The Princess Knight
by slytherin-nette
Summary: As the youngest General of the Royal Army, Jade remembered nothing about her past. All she knew was that she lived only to protect him, the Prince of Slytherin. As evil threatens to descend upon the Four Kingdoms, however, Jade not only has to sort out her growing feelings for the Prince, but she also finds herself edging closer to the mystery behind her true identity. AU DM/femHP.
1. The Fall of Gryffindor

**The Princess Knight**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters that you recognize in this story. Everything belongs to JK Rowling. All I own is the plot.

**Summary:** The youngest and only female General of the Royal Army, Jade remembered nothing about her real name or who she was. All she knew was that she lived only to protect him, the Prince of Slytherin. As the looming threat of evil threatens to descend upon the Four Kingdoms, however, Jade not only has to sort out her growing feelings for the Prince, but she also finds herself edging closer and closer to discovering the mystery behind her long forgotten past.

**Warnings: **Alternate Universe (Draco will be older than Harry in this story). Violence. Mentions of human trafficking and slave trading. Also a lot more mature themes later on.

**Pairings:** Draco/femHarry, others to be decided.

**Notes: **Alright, alright. I know that I still have HPMOM left unfinished, and I know that a lot of you are still also waiting for me to continue Phoenix Tears but I'm having such a lack of inspiration right now that I decided to try my luck with another story. Hopefully, it'll help me find my muse again. I'll update HPMOM soon, I promise – I'm actually hoping to update HPMOM before I post the second chapter of this story. In the meantime, I just really needed to get this damn plot bunny out of my system. :D

* * *

**Chapter 1 – The Fall of Gryffindor **

"Lily! Take Harriet and run! I'll hold him off until then!"

King James' voice roughened with emotion as he forced himself to pull his gaze away from his Queen and his five-year-old daughter. Behind him, Queen Lily's green eyes widened and her vision blurred with tears as she watched her husband pull his sword out of its scabbard.

"No!" She choked out as her hand tightened around her daughter and she crossed the room back to her husband, trying to pull him along. "I won't leave you, James! I can't, I won't—"

"You have to, Lily!" James whispered back as he glanced over his shoulder again, staring at his wife's broken expression. "I won't let Voldemort take my kingdom! I _won't _let him take Harry!" His gaze fell to the crying five-year-old who was clutching very tightly onto Lily's hand.

"We'll fight him together. _Please. _Let me help you, my King." Lily choked out, a single tear rolling down her pale cheek. "I won't leave you here alone! Let me fight beside you—"

"Your Majesty."

At the sound of the new voice that had spoken, both the King and Queen tensed and turned around slowly. The doors to the throne room opened, and King James' most trusted General – the head of his Royal Army – Sirius Black, entered the room. One look at the pained expression on his best friend's face and the tears in Lily's eyes was enough to make Sirius wince.

After kneeling down to show his respect, he kept his head bent low and spoke.

"If I may be allowed to speak—"

"Get on your feet, Sirius. We have been best friends for thirty years now." King James interrupted him with a weary sigh. "We're being attacked. Now is not the time for formality—"

"If you would allow me, your Majesty, we have to get the Princess out of the castle." Sirius' voice shook as he lifted his gaze and met James' eyes. "Lord Voldemort and his forces are already nearing our gates. I fear that it's only a matter of time before they break through our defenses. We need to escape and take refuge in the Slytherin Kingdom before the Dark Lord—"

"Then so be it, Sirius." Lily's voice softened into a defeated whisper as she knelt down slowly, gathering the five-year-old Princess into her arms. "_You _will take Harriet and escape."

"What?!" Sirius' face paled and he stared at Lily with wide gray eyes. "N—no, I can't! I won't leave, you'll be defenseless! I'll stay – my Queen, _you _should escape with the Princess—"

"There's no time to argue with me, Sirius." Lily interrupted him as she walked toward him, carrying a crying Harriet in her arms. When she tried to disentangle her daughter's grip around her neck, however, Harriet screamed and she buried her face into her mother's neck.

"N—no, Mother! _Please!_" She sobbed. "I don't want to go! I want to stay with you!"

"Hush, beloved." Lily's hands were shaking and she was barely able to hold herself together as she gently pulled her daughter's tiny arms away from her neck and handed her to Sirius. "All will be okay, I promise. Your Uncle Sirius will bring you somewhere safe. Somewhere far away from here where no one will be able to hurt you." Her voice broke as she leaned down, dropping a kiss onto Harry's mane of ink blank hair. "Mommy loves you so much, my darling."

"Lily." James' eyes were bright with tears as he watched his wife holding his daughter firmly to her chest for what could be, perhaps, the last time.

"Please. Go with them, my Queen."

"I shan't leave you, James." Lily bit her lip, forcing herself to ignore the heartbroken wails and screams of her daughter as she straightened again and walked back over to James. "Voldemort will be coming with an army of Dark Magic. You need me here to fight beside you."

"Sirius." James' voice was choked as he turned to his best friend, watching as the other man gathered Princess Harriet up in his arms. "Take my daughter and run as far away from here as you can. Hide her somewhere they'll never find her. Can you do this for me, my old friend?"

"It would be my honor, my King." Sirius answered, but by then, his eyes were beginning to grow dim.

James gave him a shaky smile, but Sirius recognized the fear reflected on his face.

"Father! Mother!" Princess Harriet screamed as Sirius lifted her into his arms and began heading towards the back door of the room.

"I don't want to go! I want to stay here with you!"

"Be brave, my darling little girl." Lily called back, tears streaming down her face as she watched Sirius exiting the room. Just as he reached the doors and he slid his hood back over his face, ready to run off into the castle's escape tunnels, Harriet took one last look at her parents.

King James and Queen Lily were both staring achingly at her, their eyes dark with pain and fear. When Harriet reached out for them again, they managed to give her a tearful smile.

* * *

"There! Over there, by that gate! It's the General! He's getting away with the Princess!"

Sirius grunted with pain as he forced his horse to gallop faster, riding as fast as he possibly could towards the border that separated Gryffindor from the Slytherin Kingdom. He stiffened when he heard an eerily familiar cackle behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, his eyes grew wide at the sight of none other than the Dark Lord himself, Lord Voldemort, chasing after him. His bright red eyes gleamed maniacally, like two rubies in the darkness of the night, and more out of instinct than anything else, Sirius' grip tightened around Harriet in front of him.

"You can't run from me!" Voldemort hissed at him from behind, and Sirius had to jerk his horse sharply to the side to avoid the spell that was hurled his way. "That child is mine!"

_Merlin, help me. I'd sooner die than let him take the Princess. _He thought desperately to himself as he pulled his gaze to the front again, searching desperately for a means to get away.

His eyes landed on the forest nearby, the one just on the outskirts that would take them to the border of Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and he forced his horse to gallop faster with its reigns.

"Come on, come _on_!" He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the neighing of the Dark Lord's horse close behind him. "Just a bit further. He wouldn't dare follow us over the border."

"Where are we going, Uncle Sirius?" Harriet asked quietly, blinking up at him.

"We're going to Slytherin." Sirius answered carefully as he swerved his horse around an obstacle on the round. "My brother, Regulus, is an officer of their Military. We'll be safe there."

"But…Mother and Father." Harriet's green eyes widened again and began to grow glassy with her tears. "We can't leave them! We have to save them, we have to take them with us!"

"There's no time, Princess!" Sirius' grip tightened around the reigns again when he saw the way the Princess was beginning to radiate a small amount of uncontrolled magic. "Your parents want you to be safe. If we go back now, they'll catch us and they _will _kill you, Princess!"

"But—" Harriet would have said more but in that instant, the path in front them lit up, blocked entirely by a thick wall of fire. Paling, Sirius was forced to pull his horse to a stop, but as soon as he turned around, he was knocked down to the ground by another wave of blue flames.

_The Princess! _Wincing, Sirius twisted to his side and shoved Harriet out of the way as they fell down onto the rocky ground. When he heard her cry of pain, however, Sirius glanced up immediately, his face paling when he saw the Dark Lord approaching Harriet's fallen form.

"_Run!_" He screamed, and he tried to stand up to go to her but then he cried out in pain and fell back to the ground, clutching as his injured ankle.

"Harry, just leave me and run away!"

The Princess had gone completely still as she lay there, crumpled on the ground. She began trembling; her green eyes wide and glassy as she stared at Sirius from a few feet away.

"Harry!" Sirius croaked, trying to force himself back up despite the throbbing pain in his ankle. In the process, he ended up twisting the swollen limb even more and he winced in pain.

"Princess, _please _run away from him!"

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, little Princess."

Sirius' protests were cut off by the Dark Lord's oddly soft and sickeningly sweet voice as he finally stopped near Harriet and alighted from his horse. As he made his over towards her, he noticed the terrified expression on Sirius' face and the way he was desperately trying to reach for his discarded sword on the ground, and his smile widened. With bright, gleaming red eyes, the Dark Lord stopped just as he reached Harriet's huddled form and he sneered down at her.

"Would you like to see your parents again?" He hissed, his narrowed gaze taking in her torn robes and smudged cheeks.

Harriet hiccupped and nodded, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't touch her!" Sirius growled and he tried to rise up to his feet again but Voldemort ignored him, his attention focused solely on the little girl in front of him.

"Get away from her, you monster!"

Harriet was pale as she knelt there, terrified, with the Dark Lord looming over her.

"Very well." Voldemort drawled, and with a wide smile, he raised his hand over Harriet's forehead, his fingers emitting a blinding, eerie red glow.

"You shall see them again very soon, Princess."

"_HARRY!" _

Sirius screamed again, reaching desperately for his sword on the ground.

"_PRINCESS, GET AWAY FROM HIM!"_

"Avada Kedavra!"

There was a bright beam of red light and a loudly blaring, screeching noise. The entire clearing around them suddenly _exploded _and Sirius was thrown back against the rocky ground. The last thing he was able to make out through the cloud of dust around him was that the Dark Lord was _gone, _and where Harriet once knelt, there was only her cloak, stained with her blood.

* * *

The loud thudding of heavy footsteps walking along the ground near his head slowly brought Sirius back to his awareness. He opened his eyes, groaning in pain as he looked up at the dark night sky. He stayed in that position for a long time, his features creased into a grimace of pain and deep anguish as he tried to come to terms with everything that had just happened.

_The Princess is dead, and I wasn't able to protect her. I failed my King and Queen. _In his moment of grief, as the tears of guilt and self-loathing began to wet his eyes, a shadow suddenly cast itself upon him. Sirius lifted his gaze, blinking up at the sneering man staring down at him.

As soon as he recognized who it was, his eyes widened in horrified anger.

"It's you." He spat out, tasting his own blood in his mouth.

"It's me." Peter Pettigrew, another one of King James' trusted Generals, smiled down at him, callously nudging Sirius' injured ankle with his foot. "Oh, you don't look so good, Padfoot."

"You've lost, you know." Sirius winced when Peter managed to strike a particularly painful wound near his knee and he hissed, gritting his teeth. "You betrayed us by siding with the Dark Lord, but he's gone and it was all for nothing. He destroyed himself with his own dark magic. James will punish you for your treachery. You'd best run now before I kill you myself!"

"Oh, I don't think so." Peter drawled haughtily as he stepped back from him, crossing his arms over his chest. "The King and Queen are dead. I _personally _made sure of that." His smirk widened when he saw the stunned look on Sirius's bloodied face. "And now, so is the Princess."

Sirius shook with utmost fury, and he spat the blood in his mouth onto the ground.

"The Dark Lord—"

"—is _gone?_" Peter smirked, his eyes gleaming with triumph. "I saw it with my own eyes too. His spell backfired on him, killing both _him _and the Princess. Though, I can't say I'm sorry for his death, really. In fact, it just makes things all the more easier for me now that he's gone too. After all, I only sided with him because I needed him to assassinate the Royal Family." He smiled.

At his words, Sirius' eyes grew dim with realization and he finally understood exactly _what _took place inside the palace that night – Peter had been plotting against James all along.

"It was _you._" Sirius whispered, staring up at Peter in horror.

"_You _tipped the Death Eater army off on the underground tunnels leading to the castle. _You _helped with the ambush attack."

"Bloody brilliant, Sirius." Peter's grin widened at his words and he shrugged, flicking his gaze idly around the area again. He walked over to where the Princess' bloodied cloak was and gathered the material up into his arms, studying the garment carefully. "The Death Eater Army is quite a resourceful bunch you know. _Very _different from the ever 'valiant' and 'noble' army of Gryffindor. Admit it, our men could never have thought of such an ingenious plan like this one."

"You bastard." Sirius whispered under his breath, digging his nails into his palms.

"And what do you know? Now, that the Dark Lord is dead, I have control of _both _armies. It's almost like killing two birds with one stone, isn't it?" Peter stroked his chin in thought for a few seconds before he chuckled and turned around, eyeing Sirius' bleeding form on the ground.

"The Kingdom of Gryffindor is now _mine._" His face twisted into a maniacal smile.

"Y–you…You won't get away with this!" Sirius winced again as more blood began pooling in his mouth and he coughed hoarsely, trying to breathe.

"I swear, I'll tell _everyone_–"

"Is that so, Padfoot?" Peter's expression suddenly shuttered at his words and his eyes gleamed as he turned around and began stalking back over to where Sirius lay on the ground.

"You remember how they once told us that only the Royal Families could use magic?"

Peter paused as he raised his hands into the air. When Sirius saw the distinct shape of the Dark Mark burned onto Peter's forearm, his eyes widened in horror. "Now, I see that the Dark Lord was _right. _Anyone who understands _true _power can wield _true _magic." Peter hissed.

"No." Sirius whispered, watching as the tips of Peter's fingers began to glow with the same red light as the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. "You sold your soul to the devil for that power_. _But that isn't true magic. It will corrupt you. It will _consume _you like it did Voldemort–"

"Tell me something, my old friend_._" Peter cut him off harshly, ignoring Sirius' words altogether as he raised his hand higher into the air, holding his palm directly above Sirius' form.

"How do you intend to tell anybody the truth about me…When you can no longer talk?"

The last thing Sirius remembered was another flash of bright red light and a burning sensation enveloping his entire body. He screamed, twitching violently against the cold ground.

And then everything blacked out.

* * *

Severus Snape sighed wearily to himself as he glanced across the royal carriage at the 15-year-old Crown Prince of Slytherin. With his platinum blonde hair and gray eyes, Prince Draco was a near replica of his father, King Lucius II, but their similarity ended with their appearance.

Where the King was steadfast and particular about his responsibilities as leader to his people, the Prince was unashamedly spoiled, irresponsible and clearly could not care _less _about his duties as the future King of the Slytherin Kingdom. His mother, Queen Narcissa, had always been rather complacent with her son's behavior, insisting that he'd grow out of his childish ways and eventually take on his role as leader when he was ready, but Severus wasn't so convinced.

He had served as one of the most trusted Generals of the Slytherin Royal Army for ten years, and he had seen how selfish and incredibly self-absorbed the young Prince had become. He cared little about learning how to manage the Kingdom, and even _less _about interacting with the villagers or the common folk who served them. In fact, the only thing that Prince Draco ever showed any genuine interest in was practicing the Art of Magic – which, as everyone knew, was a sacred privilege of those descended by blood from the Royal Families of the Four Kingdoms.

The Prince _was _incredibly gifted with magic; no doubt, even Severus had to admit that. Even now, as Severus watched the bored young Prince playing lazily with his crown by levitating it effortlessly around in the air, he had to marvel at the ease with which Draco used his magic. In fact, amongst all the children of the three Royal Families of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin (Severus couldn't quite count in Gryffindor just yet. The Gryffindor Princess was only five-years-old and had not yet been taught the Art of Magic), he was certain Draco was the most talented.

_Now if only the poncy brat wasn't so bloody conceited, I could almost convince myself he'd make a great King. _Severus thought wryly to himself as he brought his gaze to the blonde Prince again, watching as Draco yawned and continued to levitate his crown around in the air.

As though sensing the General's gaze on him, Prince Draco lifted his gray eyes from studying his nails and glared impassively at Severus from where he sat across the small carriage.

"Are we, in any _conceivable way, _near Ravenclaw yet?" Prince Draco asked icily, leveling the older man with an impatient expression. "I feel like I've been sitting in this carriage for _hours _now, and it can't be good for my posture. What if I grow up with a bad back?" He complained with a 'tsch' sound before sighing and tucking his chin onto his palm. "Where is Father? Wasn't it _his _grandidea for us to pay another visit to Ravenclaw? Personally, I don't understand why."

Severus gritted his teeth as he forced his annoyance down at the Prince's words and averted his gaze back to watch the scenery outside from the carriage windows. "We're nearing the border of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, your Highness. It should only be a few more hours." At the impatient scowl he received from the Prince, he sighed and offered him an indulgent smile.

"Perhaps, to pass the time, we could do as your Mother instructed and brush up on your knowledge of the Four Kingdoms?" When he saw that Prince Draco was just about to open his mouth to protest, he added hastily. "It _would_ be good to refresh your cultural knowledge, my Prince. After all, you _will _be visiting the other Kingdoms quite often once you are named King."

"Fine." Prince Draco muttered, leaning back against his seat with a disinterested scowl. "I should have known Mother would instruct you to give me another one of her stupid lessons."

"The Queen _is _renowned for her excellent maintenance of diplomatic relationships with the other Kingdoms." Severus remarked wryly, amused at the Prince's disgruntled expression.

At his words, Prince Draco just shrugged and muffled a yawn behind his hand.

"I suppose so. Carry on then, Severus."

"Very well, Your Highness." Severus sighed at the Prince's behavior but nodded and glanced out the window again as he began. "We pride ourselves as being the most affluent and economically prosperous among the Four Kingdoms. We place the highest regard on our Ambition and Resourcefulness. In that same way, the Kingdom of Gryffindor prides itself on–"

"Valor and Bravery." Prince Draco supplied correctly for him, looking decidedly bored with the whole discussion. "Yes, yes. I know all about how Gryffindor prides itself with having the best warriors. I disagree. Now can we move on then?" He drawled loudly, studying his nails.

"The Kingdom of Ravenclaw–" Severus continued with another sigh. "–prides itself on the values of Wisdom and Insight. And so, their Kingdom is home to the world's best libraries–"

"–and the smartest scholars of our nation." Prince Draco finished for him, rolling his eyes. "Again, I disagree. I'm getting a tad bored, Severus. Shall we move on to Hufflepuff now?"

Severus eyed the young Prince, his features creased into a wary frown. "The people of the Hufflepuff Kingdom value Loyalty and Perseverance above all else. They hone a lot of very skilled craftsmen. Queen Narcissa also speaks of their Kingdom's very beautiful architecture."

"Whether or not that's true." Prince Draco arched a disdainful eyebrow. "The Hufflepuff Kingdom also continues to borrow gold and resources from us, which they have yet to pay back. What good will beautiful architecture do for their people – or strong warriors or smart scholars, for that matter – when these Kingdoms do not possess the same amount of riches as _we _do?" He mocked. "Tell me, Severus. Why do we bother learning about the other Kingdoms when they are, _clearly_, less advanced than we are? Shouldn't _they _all be learning from _us?_" He sneered.

"Clearly, you fail to see the true intent your Mother wishes to impart on you with these lessons, my Prince." Severus' expression dimmed at that and he shook his head at the Prince's words. "Perhaps, in time, you will realize how understanding the diverse cultural differences _and _similarities between the Four Kingdoms is the only way for you to truly become a great leader."

The Prince scoffed loudly at him, scowling once more as he glared out the carriage windows in silence.

"Spare me your lectures, Severus. I get enough of them from my Father."

Shaking his head, Severus was just about to respond to the Prince's retort when a loud chorus of shouts and cheering from outside their carriage suddenly drew his attention. Tensing, Severus narrowed his eyes and brought one hand near the hilt of his sword. When he peered out the window and saw nothing outside, he glared at Prince Draco from the corner of his eye.

"I'll go check it out. Stay in the carriage, Your Highness." He warned cautiously before he glanced out the window again and gestured for the driver to park their carriage a few yards away from a pub that stood by the side of the road. When he stood up, however, and the Prince made to follow him, Severus' dark eyes hardened and he shot a glare at the young Prince again.

"I _said…_Stay in the carriage, Draco." He growled, causing the blonde Prince to pause in mid-movement and blink up at him with an infuriated expression on his young face.

"I'll go into the pub and ask the locals about what's happening. We need to make sure the road is safe before we continue." Severus told him. When it looked as though the Prince was going to argue with him, he got up from his seat and exited the carriage without another word.

Once outside, Severus addressed the Royal Guards that accompanied their carriage.

"All of you." He ordered, bring their attention to him. "Watch the Prince. Make sure he doesn't exit the carriage. I'm going inside the pub to investigate what's going on."

The guards saluted him and nodded before circling around the Prince's carriage.

Mollified about his charge's safety for now, Severus brought his hand to the hilt of his sword again as he turned and began heading towards the pub's entrance. He wasn't quite sure if the pub belonged to Gryffindor or Slytherin, as it hovered just on the border between the two Kingdoms, but as soon as he pushed through its heavy doors and stepped inside, one look at the red and gold decorations and rowdy, heavily-built men inside confirmed that it was Gryffindor.

_What in the name of Merlin is going on in here? _Severus thought with a horrified wince as he was greeted with the sight of a large crowd of looters and thieves bustling around a large pile of red and gold jewelry and clothing. After staring at the rowdy scene for a few more seconds, Severus realized that the jewelry and clothing that the thieves were fighting over were embossed with the Seal of the Gryffindor Royal Family, and all the blood drained from his face.

_No, it can't be. _Without even pausing to think, Severus stalked over to the group of thieves nearest the doors of the pub and grabbed one by his collar, hoisting him up into the air. When the thief snarled and tried to wrestle himself away, Severus held him up even higher.

"_Scoundrel!_" Severus hissed, pressing the sharp edge of his blade against the thief's pudgy neck.

"Tell me why you have the belongings of the Royal Family!" He growled furiously.

"S–stop!" The thief blurted out as he struggled desperately against Severus' grip, his eyes wide with terror as he stared at the blade pointed at his neck. "We ain't done nothin'! It was them Death Eaters who did it! They're the ones who murdered them King and Queen! They were already dead when we stormed into the castle to loot their stuff anyway!" He blurted out.

"What did you say?!" The grip Severus had around the thief's neck suddenly loosened and his eyes widened with dread. He stared in horror at the large man kneeling in front of him.

_The Royal Family is…Dead? It can't be true. _Clenching his hands, Severus swallowed the lump in his throat and brought his haunted gaze back to the thief by his feet.

The thief stared up at him with a bewildered expression, and Severus almost flinched away when he saw the yellowing teeth that poke out from the man's mouth as he answered.

"Royal Family's been murdered, milord. Whole kingdom's in anarchy."

* * *

_I can't believe Severus expects me to sit around in here like a child and do nothing! _Prince Draco gritted his teeth in annoyance as he peered out from the carriage window again, staring glumly at the outside of the pub. Grumbling, he rested his chin on his palm and watched the scene outside the carriage, growing even more and more restless with each passing second.

After mentally debating with himself for a few more minutes, the Prince finally let out an exasperated sigh and sat up in his seat. He shot a cautious look at the Royal Guards circled all around him, trying to think of what he could possibly do to distract their attention from him.

An ingenious idea struck him and the Prince smirked.

_I know just the thing. _He thought.

Still smirking, he peeked out from behind the carriage windows again, using the green-colored curtains to block himself from view. When he was certain that none of the guards were looking, he raised his index finger and pointed it at a grassy area far away from their carriage.

His fingertip lit up with a radiant, white light for a few seconds, before the magic shot out from his finger and onto the clearing, taking the form of a tall figure similar to his own height. Finally, once his magic cleared, there – in the precise spot Draco had been pointing at – stood a perfectly identical illusion of himself, and the guards immediately jumped to attention.

"It's the Prince!" One of the guards nearest the illusion suddenly called out, his voice tinged with panic. "Don't let him run off, it's dangerous out here! Go after him!" He screeched.

_Heh. _Draco rolled his eyes as he pointed at the illusion again, easily making the magical clone of himself whirl around and begin running away from the guards chasing after him. _That was almost too easy. I swear, all these guards are so incompetent. I should have them all fired._

Without so much as sparing another glance in their direction, he waited patiently until all of the guards were chasing after the magical illusion before he stood up and calmly exited the carriage, stepping outside. As soon as his neatly polished leather shoes scraped along the rocky ground, Prince Draco made a face and inspected his surroundings with a grimace of distaste.

_Where in Merlin's name are we anyway? This pub is filthy; it looks like it's meant for peasants._ Reluctantly, he began walking towards the back of the pub, eyeing the rundown area. _I'm don't understand why Mother and Father like to visit the towns and villagers all the time; everything is so…quaint out here. _Sighing, Prince Draco was just deciding on whether or not to explore further or to slink back towards his carriage when a loud scuffle from behind the pub suddenly called his attention and he froze up, his gaze darting towards the source of the sound.

"Hurry and decide already, will yeh?! We can't be seen out here like this!"

"King James is dead anyway, ain't no one around to bust you anymore for sellin a slave!"

_What did that man say? _The Prince's eyes widened, his face paling in realization._ King James is…dead? But that means…the Death Eaters must have attacked the Gryffindor Kingdom! _

As he neared the source of the scuffling and the hushed voices, Prince Draco's eyes narrowed and he slowed his footsteps. Crouching low on his knees, he peered over a large stack of barrels and watched in outrage as a group of scruffy looking old men – he guessed from their clothes and from the small girl who was gagged and tied up behind them that they were probably slave traders – continued to negotiate with a small band of heavily armed thieves.

As they conversed, Draco crouched lower and tried to listen in on their conversation.

"Speak for yerself!" One of the slave-traders, a tall, lanky man with a hideous spider tattoo on his left arm, pointed out. He shot one of the thieves a glare and shook his head. "This blasted Kingdom's still full of 'em righteous bastards, it's better safe than sorry, I always say!" When he noticed how the thieves continued to inspect the little girl behind them, he added.

"Well, go ahead and decide already! Are yeh takin' the girl or not?!" He demanded.

"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin!" The man in front of the group of thieves – Draco could only assume he was their leader – grumbled irritably. Walking up to the bound girl on the floor, he knelt down low beside her and reached out, grabbing her roughly by the chin and forcing her head up so that he could inspect her face. When the little girl whimpered in pain at this, a terrified sob escaping her muffled mouth, Prince Draco stiffened and he began gritting his teeth.

_They're about to sell that poor little girl off…I have to do something! _He thought.

"Heh. Looks like she rolled around in the mud." The thief leader commented, studying the girl's dirt-grimed features. "Where'd yeh pick this runt up anyway? And 'ow much for 'er?"

"Tsch! We didn't get the time to clean 'er!" The lanky slave-trader retorted, spitting on the ground before wiping his mouth and gesturing to the small girl again. "We picked her up not more 'an couple hours ago. She was wanderin' lost round the forest, poor little rat." He smirked and walked over to where the girl knelt on the ground, nudging her side painfully by his foot.

"She don't know her name too. Says she hasn't a clue who the hell she is. I reckon she might be another one of 'em runaways from some orphanage or somethin'. Anyway—" The lanky slave-trader paused, stroking his chin. "—I'd say for her, a 'undred and fifty sickles even."

"Make it a hundred. And yeh've got yerself a deal." The thief leader answered as he stood back up, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pouch of silver coins. Tossing it to the slave trader, he turned to address the others behind him. "She's too young to be of any real use now but give it a few years and that pretty face might be able to make us a lot of money." He scoffed.

_Merlin, this can't be real. There can't be actual people like this. _Prince Draco stiffened at the scene unfolding in front of him, his nails digging painfully into his palms. _Are they really about to sell this little girl to this group of thieves? Who knows what they'd do to her?! _He raged.

"Go on and tie the girl to one of our 'orses already! Let's get the 'ell out of 'ere!"

As the Prince watched the slave traders disperse and one of the thieves began to lean down to scoop the young girl into his arms, something inside Draco _snapped. _

Without even pausing to think about the consequences of his actions, he raised his hands up towards the group of thieves and summoned a burst of magical energy from his core.

There was a flash of blinding white light that radiated from the tips of his fingers before the energy _exploded, _violently hurling back all of the thieves and slave traders away from the little girl. As they groaned in pain and lay there, barely conscious on the ground, Prince Draco shot back up to his feet and began running as fast as he could towards the little girl. It had taken quite a lot of energy to expel as much magic as he did, and he already felt significantly weaker.

He winced in pain, trying to ignore his exhaustion.

_I need to practice my magic a bit more. My body's still not used to using up that much energy. _He thought worriedly to himself.

Despite all that, Draco stopped as he reached the little girl's form on the ground and knelt down, hastily untying the ropes that bound her ankles and wrists together. Afterwards, as he reached up and removed the gag from the girl's mouth, she blinked and stared back up at him, allowing the Prince to see her tear-brightened eyes for the very first time. They were an interesting shade of green – a rich, vibrant _jade _color– and he found himself entranced by them.

It took Draco a few seconds before he was able to find his voice to speak.

"Can you stand?" He asked her gently.

A soft sob escaped the young girl but she nodded weakly, and so he took her hand and helped her back up to her feet. As she pulled herself up, Draco couldn't help but notice the strange, lightning bolt scar on her forehead and the smudges of blood and dirt along her cheeks.

Her robes were stained and torn all over the place, making the embroidery on them completely unrecognizable. When Draco glanced down, he also noticed that the girl wore no shoes, and that both her feet _and _her legs were scraped with deep gashes and purple bruises.

Frowning, he reached into the pocket of his robes, pulling out a clean white handkerchief. Just as he was using it to wipe the blood from the girl's cheeks, one of the slave traders behind them somehow managed to regain his consciousness. He growled loudly as he stood back up to his feet, his eyes narrowing into slits when he realized who he was staring at.

"Well, well, well." His beady eyes fell slowly upon Prince Draco and when he saw that the Prince was staring nervously at him, he reached down, lifting his large dagger up into the air. "If it isn't the Prince of Slytherin." He mocked, and his smile grew when he saw Draco's panicked grimace. "I can only imagine the money we could get for killing _you._" The man cackled loudly.

"S—stay back!" Draco swallowed audibly as he began backing away from the man, gripping the little girl's wrist tightly behind him. "—touch me, and I will have you beheaded! My father will have your entire village burned down!" The way his voice broke contrasted sharply with the threat in his words. When Draco noticed that more and more of the thieves and slave traders he had stunned were beginning to wake up around him, he broke out into a cold sweat.

_For Merlin's sake! Where are all my blasted guards?! _Draco thought in growing panic.

His magic was useless to him at that point – he used up the last of his magical energy when he had expounded the radius of his stunning spell – so he couldn't fight back. In his current state, if he tried to perform any other form of magic now, he would probably pass out.

"Prince of Slytherin, huh?" Another slave trader, a burly man with yellowing teeth, blurted out with a wide, sinister grin. "I think I'd much prefer to kill you than to claim a ransom."

_Severus, where are you?! _Draco's eyes widened as the slave traders began to close in around him from both sides. Behind him, he felt the girl's hands tighten painfully around his.

Just as Prince Draco was inwardly debating with himself on whether or not they should try to make a run for it, one of the slave traders in front suddenly shot out and jumped at him, grabbing the Prince by the front of his collar and hoisting him up from the ground as though he were a weightless sack of feathers. At this, Draco lost his grip on the young girl instantly and he winced in pain as the man's large hands tightened around his throat, cutting off his air supply.

"N—no, stop!" Draco choked out, struggling wildly as the large man lifted him up higher until his feet dangled a few inches from the ground. "N—no, please! S—Severus, help me—"

"It's useless to call for help, _Your Highness._" The man mocked loudly. His companions cackled at the helpless look of desperation on the Prince's face. "No one's around to hear you."

"No, stop! I—I can't…_breathe_!" Behind him, Prince Draco thought he heard the little girl beginning to cry again, sobbing and screaming for the man to stop. Left with no other choice, Draco glanced over his shoulder and stared back down at the girl with wide, pleading gray eyes.

"P—please!" He coughed, though as he choked for air, he wasn't even sure anymore if any of the words coming out of his mouth were coherent. "Fight back! _Help me!_" He cried out.

At the Prince's words, the girl trembled as she brought her gaze up and stared at the scene in front of her with wide, terrified green eyes. She stood there, completely rooted to the spot with a haunted look on her face, but when Draco began to choke again, her fists clenched.

"Please." Draco's voice was weak and he was already beginning to lose consciousness. He stared at her, looking deep into the bright jade orbs of her eyes. "Don't… be afraid of them. You have to fight back…Please. Fight back." He whispered weakly, his voice slowly fading away.

He was just on the verge of running out of air – he knew he was – but then, in the split second that Draco was certain he was going to die right then and there, he drew his eyes up again and he saw the maniacal gleam of anger that flashed in the little girl's bright green eyes.

The strange look on her face had lasted for a moment, _only _for a very brief moment, but the next thing Draco knew, the girl was reaching for one of the discarded daggers on the ground.

She let out a sharp, bloodcurdling scream that pierced the silence of the night.

And then, everything else seemed to happen so fast after that.

It was a _massacre._

Prince Draco could not believe his eyes as he stared at the fallen bodies of all the dead slave traders in front of him, every single one bleeding profusely from the deep knife wound that the little girl had inflicted onto their torsos. None of the men had expected it – she had lunged at them so fast and tackled them from behind, raising the dagger in her hands and plunging it deep into them without so much as batting a single eyelash. Her attack had come so suddenly, that even Prince Draco was shocked, and he stared numbly at her for a long moment.

She was kneeling down on the ground again, her jet-black hair a tangled mess and her cheeks grimed with dried-up tears and blood but strangely, she wasn't crying anymore. Instead, she stared at the blood-soaked dagger in her hand, a dazed, stunned expression on her face.

_She killed those men all by herself to save me…To protect me. _Prince Draco thought quietly to himself as he watched her, studying the turmoil of emotions written all over her face.

"You saved my life." Draco whispered to her gently, finally breaking the heavy silence. "Thank you."

He took a cautious step toward her shivering form on the ground and knelt down carefully beside her. When she lifted her gaze to meet his, however, the action seemed to have taken the last of her energy because her eyes rolled up and she fainted in his arms, unconscious.

* * *

Nothing could have prepared Severus for the gruesome sight that greeted him when he found the Prince behind the pub that evening. Draco's face was grim as he knelt down beside a small girl on the ground, a horde of bloodied, lifeless bodies circled all around them. When he noticed Severus rushing toward him, however, the Prince looked up and met his panicked eyes.

"Your Highness!" Severus blurted out, staring in shock at the bodies around them.

"Are you alright?! Are you hurt?! What, in Merlin's good name, happened here—"

Draco raised his hand and interrupted the older man with a calm shake of his head.

"I'm fine, Severus."

"M—my Prince." Severus was still staring at the scene around them, his voice sounding choked with horror. "What happened?! Did you—" His face paled. "—did you kill these men?"

Draco didn't answer him at first as he merely lowered his gaze down to the girl in his arms again, reaching out and using his thumb to wipe the bloodstains from her pale cheeks. It took him a few minutes before he looked up at Severus again, answering him in a soft whisper.

"I didn't…_She _did." The Prince stared at the little girl cradled in his arms, tucking a lock of her black hair back behind her ear. "I've never seen anybody move that fast. She…saved me."

"M—Merlin." Severus stammered as he followed the Prince's soft gaze and stared at the harmless-looking young girl in horrified disbelief. "She killed all these men…by herself? How did she—_Your Highness! _Wait!" He cut himself off when he noticed that Draco was still carrying the girl in his arms as he began walking back towards their carriage.

"What exactly are you doing?!"

Draco paused in mid-stride and glanced impatiently at Severus over his shoulder. When the older man just gaped at him in confusion, Draco gave him a shrug and continued walking.

"I'm cancelling our visit to Ravenclaw." The Prince began slowly, pausing again just as they reached the royal carriage and waiting impatiently until one of the confused guards near the entrance struggled to open the doors. Still at a loss for words, Severus could do nothing else but follow him into the carriage, his eyes staring in shock at the strange girl in the Prince's arms.

"My Prince, do you even know this child?" He demanded. "Where did she come from?"

To his frustration, Prince Draco ignored his question and went on as though he hadn't heard him. "I think, in light of the attack on Gryffindor Kingdom, you'd agree with me that it's not safe for us to be travelling so freely like this anymore. We'll head back home immediately."

Severus hesitated, still staring suspiciously at the unconscious young girl.

"And the girl—?"

Draco glared sharply at him, his gray eyes resolute with the finality of his decision.

"We're taking her back with us to the palace."

"I see." Severus' eyes widened and he stared at Draco again, clearly stunned.

"You wish to bring the young girl back to the palace as one of our servants then, Your Highness?" He asked.

Draco stiffened and he shook his head, looking appalled at Severus' suggestion.

"I don't want her to be a mere servant, Severus. I want her to be part of my Royal Court." He explained.

"I see." Severus repeated, his features creasing into a frown. "She is but a mere child, Your Highness. From the looks of it, I'm guessing she's only five – maybe six – years old."

"I know." Draco lifted his gaze and stared back at him, giving him a pointed look. "You shall raise her until she's old enough to join my Court then, Severus." Draco insisted stubbornly, "When she's old enough, I want her to accompany me at all times. She is _not _to leave my side."

"My Prince." Severus continued to frown at him, a conflicted look on his face. "Like I said, she's just a little girl. If what you wish is for her to serve as one of your Ladies-in-Waiting, then I cannot raise her. She will have to be educated and trained in the ways of the woman—"

"No!" The Prince suddenly cut him off, silencing him with a sharp look. "That wasn't what I meant at all, Severus. I did not mean for her to serve as one of my Ladies-in-Waiting."

"I don't understand." Severus blinked at him, confused. "If you don't intend her to serve as one of your Ladies-in-waiting but she is to accompany you at all times, then that means—"

"It does." Draco confirmed his suspicions with a single incline of his head. "I want you to raise her and train her to join the Royal Army. Impart on her your skills." He paused to tighten his grip around the girl when their carriage swerved around a sharp turn in the road. When Severus paled at his words and stared at him as though he had grown an extra head, he added.

"I want her to be to me as you are to my Father."

Severus continued to gape at him.

"You want me to train her…so she can join the Royal Army?" He echoed.

"I want you to train her to become one of my _Generals._" Draco corrected him with a small, smug smile. "Show her the ways of the sword so that she may protect me with her life."

"Th—this is…_absurd, _my Prince!" Severus blurted out, shaking his head and glaring incredulously at the unconscious girl. "Gryffindor is already in a state of anarchy! Who knows – what if the Death Eaters also try to attack the other Kingdoms?! I have to fortify our defenses and train our soldiers! I do not have the time to raise a five-year-old child!" He fumed out loud.

At his words, the Prince's eyes narrowed and he glared at him from across the carriage.

"Are you raising your voice to me, Severus?" He challenged, his gray eyes glinting as he brought his full attention to Severus and leveled the older man with a sneer. "Do you defy me?!"

"Of course not, Your Highness." Severus stiffened at his reaction, and reluctantly, he lowered his head in acquiescence until he was scowling at his feet. "That wasn't my intention."

"Then you will hold your tongue and do as I _say_!"

The last of the Prince's words ended in a sharp hiss as he sneered at Severus one last time before he tore his eyes away. Just as their carriage was rounding its way back towards Slytherin Kingdom, the small girl in Prince Draco's arms suddenly stirred, drawing the Prince's attention once more. He lowered his gaze and stared softly at the girl's bright jade green eyes.

She was blinking dazedly up at him, a look of muddled confusion and uncertainty clouding her features. When she bit her lip and averted her eyes in shame, Prince Draco reached down carefully, using his thumb to wipe away the remaining smudges of tears on her cheeks.

"What is your name, little one?" He asked gently, tilting her chin up so that she met his gaze again. For a few seconds, she couldn't seem to find her voice, but when the Prince nodded patiently for her to speak, the girl looked down again and answered him in a broken whisper.

"I'm sorry." She choked out, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I don't remember."

"You're shivering."

Prince Draco's gaze flicked over her small frame once more, and when he noticed that she was shivering horribly, he reached up and began uncoiling his own green scarf from around his neck. Then, once the Prince had finished tying the dark green scarf around the girl's neck, he ignored Severus' bewildered stare and gave the little girl's jet-black hair an affectionate ruffle.

"I shall give you a new name then." He mused out loud to himself.

At his words, the little girl lifted her wide-eyed gaze from the beautiful scarf he had tied around her neck and stared up at him again, her expression softening into a small, tearful smile.

Prince Draco smiled back down at her and caressed her cheek.

"I shall call you…Jade."

* * *

**Notes: **Well….what do you think? What do you think?! Do you think I should give this AU story a shot and continue?! Personally, I think it has a lot of potential, and I already have a lot of ideas in mind but I'd like to get feedback from all of you first! :D Oh and FYI, this story was semi-inspired by my current obsession with the anime, Shingeki no Kyojin. After I watched the anime, I was suddenly inspired to write a really kick-ass female main character. In fact, to you other SNK fans out there, I'm sure you must have noticed by now how I patterned Harriet in this story loosely after my favorite character in SNK– Mikasa Ackerman! I absolutely love her to death! :3

**Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Violent reactions? Please let me know what you think! Cheers and hope to see you next update! :D **


	2. 13 Years Later

**The Princess Knight**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters that you recognize in this story. Everything belongs to JK Rowling. All I own is the plot.

**Pairings:** Draco/femHarry, others to be decided.

**Notes: **Yes, I know I said I would update HPMOM before I posted another chapter of this new story but honestly? Sometimes, a writer really has no control over which muse to follow. I mostly write whatever my imagination wants me to write, and this chapter is what came out. I'm about 60% done with Chapter 36 of HPMOM anyway, so hopefully, I'll be able to post it soon. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D

* * *

**Chapter 2 – 13 Years Later**

"Captain!" Vincent froze as he reached the entrance to Jade's quarters in the Royal Palace that afternoon.

After knocking a few times, he immediately straightened himself into a formal salute as he stood by her open doors. Undaunted, Jade lifted uninterested green eyes from where she was reading by the end of her bed and addressed him with an arched eyebrow.

With a frustrated sigh, Jade set her book against her lap. "What do you want now?"

"Captain!" Vincent called to her again as he lowered his salute and strode into the room towards her. "Our garrison squad stationed near the borders of Gryffindor reports of a band of Death Eaters trying to invade our southern villages. They request your presence immediately."

"Go and have Zabini or Nott ride over there then." Jade answered him with a bored look before she lowered her impassive gaze back to her book. "Book was just getting interesting."

"But, Captain." Vincent stammered, biting his lip uncertainly as he flicked his gaze back and forth from the doors to his Superior Officer in front of him. "_You're _our Squad Leader—"

"Yes Crabbe, and as your Squad Leader, I'm telling you that Zabini or Nott should be able to handle it. Go with them if you wish. " Jade snapped impatiently at him, looking annoyed. "I have more important things to do with my time than to take out annoying Death Eaters—"

"But Ma'am." Vincent persisted. This time, he changed his approach by giving the 18-year-old Captain in front of him a pointed look. "If I'm not mistaken, His Highness, Prince Draco, is to visit that village tomorrow. It would be dangerous if those Death Eaters were still there—"

"Which village would this be again?" Jade's intense gaze was on him instantly, her green eyes narrowed as she gave him a sharp look. At her reaction, Vincent had to hold back a smirk.

"The village of Dragonwood, Captain." He answered.

"Assemble our squad immediately." Without waiting for him to answer, Jade had already jumped to her feet and walked across the room, grabbing her two sabres from where they were mounted on the walls and sliding them easily into the holsters strapped to her thighs.

"We leave in five minutes."

* * *

"Goddamn it!" Blaise cursed under his breath as he flattened himself against his horse and forced the animal to gallop faster, trying desperately to catch up to where their Captain was riding a few meters ahead of him. Glancing over his shoulder behind him, he noticed that the rest of their squad – Theodore, Vincent and Greg – were all struggling to keep up with them.

_I swear to Merlin…Is she even human? _Blaise thought wryly to himself as he glanced ahead again, noting that Jade finally stopped near the entrance of Dragonwood Village and glanced impatiently over her shoulder to wait for them. When they got there, she didn't bother saying anything else before she grabbed onto her horse's reigns and galloped again, riding into the village with the same, expressionless mask on her face that she was most well known for.

As he watched her alight from her horse – the proud, white mare that Prince Draco had given to Jade on the day of her eighteenth birthday – Blaise couldn't help thinking to himself how much of a strange enigma he truly found her to be. Not only was Jade the youngest member of the entire Slytherin Royal Army, but she was also the youngest soldier who had ever risen up the ranks so fast that she had already been awarded her very own unit. And it wasn't just _any _unit she was given – she was Captain to the Prince's very best and most trusted fighters.

None of them, however, could even hold a _candle _to Jade's exceptional fighting skills.

From what very little Blaise heard about Jade's history, he knew that Jade had been an orphan before she was eventually taken in by the Prince when he had been passing by one of their southern villages. When he saw the young girl's potential, the Prince had Jade trained and mentored by none other than the Head of the Slytherin Army himself – General Severus Snape.

Blaise, as well as all of the other soldiers, knew more than anything that Severus was a ruthlessly _grueling _mentor, but Jade completed her training under him in less than ten years. By the time she reached the age of 15, she was taken in as a soldier under the General's unit. Two years later, by the time she was 17_, _she was promoted to _Captain _and was given her own squad.

_And now, here I am. Merely second-in-command to a leader who is years younger than I am but possesses ten times my fighting skills. _Blaise thought wryly to himself, shaking his head.

It wasn't that he was resentful for being under Jade's authority – fighting alongside her had taught him, more than anything, that she was a smart and very capable Squad Leader. To be quite honest, Blaise didn't think he _ever _saw anybody fight or think the way Jade did – the powerful swings of her twin sabres and her incredible speed were _legendary _in their Kingdom.

His resentment, however, stemmed more from the fact that Jade and Prince Draco were _incredibly _close – almost suspiciously so – and he couldn't quite help but connect Jade's quick rise in the army to the fact that she was highly favored by the Prince. Blaise _was _the Prince's best friend after all, and it irked him to see Draco taken in so much by the mysterious young girl.

"Zabini! Get the squad in formation!" Jade's sharp call of his name caused Blaise to snap to attention, just in time to see a large band of Death Eaters – perhaps a little over two dozen – shouting and furiously making their way to where Jade stood in the middle of the small village.

Around them, Blaise noticed that most of the villagers had screamed and rushed back into their houses, terrified. The Death Eaters were infamous and feared not only in Slytherin, but also in the other Kingdoms. They were half-man, half-beast creatures who were once men and women, but had sold their souls to the devil in exchange for dark magic. This magic, however, was impure and tainted with evil. The more they used it, the more it corrupted both their souls _and _their appearance until they lost all semblance of their humanity. Now, they roamed the Four Kingdoms wearing dark cloaks and white masks to hide their grotesque, monstrous faces.

"Theo! Vince! Greg!" Blaise tore his gaze from the Death Eaters running toward him and glanced over his shoulder, calling to his squadmates behind him.

"Get into your fighting stance!"

"Aye, aye, Sir!"

Blaise would have turned to check up on Jade again but just then, a tall Death Eater suddenly lunged at him from behind, screeching as he raised his hand and sent a messy flurry of fireballs his way. Grunting, Blaise yanked his sword out of its scabbard and ducked, kneeling on the ground. He waited for the fireballs to pass before he jumped to his feet again, raising his sword high into the air and bringing it crashing down, slashing the Death Eater by the shoulders.

As soon as the man was down, Blaise straightened and glanced over his shoulder again, watching as his other squadmates fought the Death Eaters around them, dodging and ducking from the few simple spells the Death Eaters hurled their way. Still situated in the very center of the village, Jade was fighting against a whole _horde _of Death Eaters by herself. Blaise ran toward her to help her out, slashing and stabbing at the Death Eaters who attacked him along the way.

It didn't take them long to clear out the village – no longer than fifteen minutes, perhaps – but as soon as Blaise looked up from the lifeless body of the last Death Eater who had lunged at him, he caught a glimpse of Jade in the final stages of her attack. She was cornered by two tall Death Eaters, both of which were using magic to light their hands on fire as they caged her in, but then, Jade rose up on one knee and leaped into an aerial jump, drawing both her sabres high into the air. As she executed a complete somersault, she slashed both of her sabres down against the Death Eaters surrounding her, before landing perfectly into a crouched position on the ground. Blinking dazedly, Blaise grimaced as the two Death Eaters fell to the ground, dead.

"Humph." Jade rose up to her feet, her expression blank as she took one last surveying look around their surroundings After sliding her twin sabres back into their holsters, she straightened, readjusted the green scarf around her neck, and began walking back to her horse.

"Bloody hell. She isn't human, I tell you." Theodore blurted out from where he stood beside Blaise. He stared at their black-haired Captain with a dreamy expression on his face. "I swear, Jade's a _goddess. _I mean, no woman can possibly be _that _beautiful and fight that well."

"Wipe the drool off your face." Blaise snorted derisively as he shook his head. He slid his single, heavy sword back into its scabbard. "You _know _Jade isn't the least bit interested in you."

"More like, she doesn't even know you exist." Greg quipped with a laugh as he walked over to them, wiping the blood from his sword. "She's much too busy pining after Prince Draco."

"She's wasting her time." Theodore grumbled, looking put out as he followed the others and trudged back over to where they had left their horses near the entrance of the village. "She'd be much better off marrying _me, _if she'd only sit up and take a look around her. I mean, the Prince is to choose a bride soon. Isn't he only allowed to marry someone of noble blood?"

"He is." Vincent answered for him as he adjusted the saddle on his horse. "Either a lady of noble blood or he marries one of the Princesses from the other Three Kingdoms." He added.

"That must be rough." Greg chimed in, wincing and shaking his head. "Imagine having to marry that Princess from Gryffindor." He gave a shudder for emphasis, and the others laughed.

Frowning, Blaise considered Greg's words and thought back to how the newly ascended King of Gryffindor, King Peter, assumed the throne shortly after King James and his family were murdered by the Dark Lord, Voldemort, and his army of Death Eaters. For a few years, the Kingdom of Gryffindor fell into a state of anarchy, and it was only after King Peter managed to quell the riots and rebellion did Gryffindor regain a semblance of order back into the Kingdom.

_Although. _Blaise winced, thinking of the many mass killings, abuse against the villagers and crimes that often took place all around Gryffindor nowadays. _I wouldn't exactly say King Peter's been doing a good job of running the Kingdom. From what I hear, things are pretty terrible over there now, with Death Eaters still running all over the place, terrorizing the villages._

There were rumors within the other three Kingdoms that, contrary to his claim that he was doing his best to drive out the Death Eaters from Gryffindor, King Peter was actually on friendly terms with the Death Eaters, and that he was using them to terrorize the Kingdom. Of course, given that King Peter and his family often visited Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to maintain diplomatic relationships with the Royal Families, no one dared voice this rumor out.

Blaise snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Theodore grunt in disgust beside him.

"I do _not _fancy Princess Pristina, stop insinuating that I do, Greg. That's _disgusting!_" He growled angrily and shuddered. Hearing this, Blaise couldn't help smirking at him in agreement.

Pristina Pettigrew, the only daughter of King Peter and Queen Yoberta, was not exactly what men would describe as attractive. It wasn't just because of her sharp features or that she was overweight either, _that _Blaise could live with. The 22-year-old Princess of Gryffindor was widely renowned for her _appalling _manners and her _horrible_ personality. The last time Pristina had visited the Slytherin Kingdom – that was about two years ago – King Peter had approached King Lucius for a possible match-up between Prince Draco and his daughter. Not only did Pristina spend dinner insulting Queen Narcissa's decoration of the palace, but after dinner, she made highly suggestive insinuations to Draco about him giving her a tour his private chambers.

_I thought Jade was going maim her. _Blaise sniggered as he remembered the murderous glare that Jade had given Pristina when she heard her scandalous suggestion. If Blaise hadn't been there to hold the Captain back, he was certain Jade would have sliced Pristina's throat.

Still chuckling under his breath, Blaise stood back and waited patiently as all of the town's villagers began crowding around them – thanking Jade and the rest of their squad for ridding their town of the Death Eaters. Afterwards, Jade nodded quietly to the villagers one last time and got back up atop her horse. Blaise was just about to follow her when Theodore suddenly drew their squad's attention, pointing frantically to a spot a few yards ahead of them.

"Hey! Look there, by that well!" Theodore exclaimed loudly, his eyes wide as he stared at something over the Captain's shoulder.

"Mother of Merlin, that is one _big _canine!" He mused.

Frowning, Jade drew her gaze from the gushing villagers gathered around her and looked up, following Theodore's finger until she finally caught on to what he was pointing at. Following her gaze, Blaise saw a lone, shaggy black dog whining loudly beside an empty well.

"Jeez, it's just a dog." Blaise commented wryly, rolling his eyes at Theodore's reaction. "Merlin's beard, Nott. For a second there, I thought you actually saw a werewolf or something."

"Don't joke about werewolves!" Vince cut in sharply with a grimace. "Those things scare the hell out of me." He shuddered, no doubt thinking about the last time they had fought one.

"There aren't any werewolves in Slytherin, you idiot." Greg snapped at him. "The last few ones were only seen in Gryffindor, and they won't get past our borders anyway."

"Quiet, all of you!" Jade hissed impatiently at them, suddenly causing all four men to fall silent and turn to glance at their Squad Leader. To their surprise, however, Jade was no longer talking to the villagers and instead, she was trotting her horse forward, headed towards the large, shaggy black dog that Theodore had pointed at. Reluctantly, they followed after her, watching as she stopped beside the black dog and alighted slowly from atop her white horse.

"Hey there, big guy. I won't hurt you. What's your name?" Jade's voice took on an usually soft tone. She ignored her squad's bewildered stares at her and slowly walked over to the dog. She knelt down slowly, keeping her eyes trained on the quiet, unmoving animal. When the dog seemed to bow his head to her and leaned down, whining softly and resting his chin on its paws, Jade's eyes softened and she reached out, gently petting the dog's scruffy black fur.

"You don't have a name, do you? I see." She spoke again, and she slid her hand up, scratching lightly behind the dog's ears. "What's wrong? Do you want some water, big guy?"

When the dog whined again and stared up at her with large, eerily intelligent gray eyes, Jade chuckled and reached down, pulling her water bottle from her pack and pouring some onto her palm. Afterwards, she held her hand out to the dog and it bent its mouth towards her palm.

"Captain! Be careful!" Theodore – always the one in their Squad who was unnecessarily concerned about their Captain's safety – blurted out. He looked a bit frantic when he saw how dangerously close she was to the unknown animal. "We don't know if that animal is friendly!"

"He's friendly." Jade assured him easily, ignoring his protests altogether as she watched the dog drinking from her palm. "He would have attacked me _long _before this if he actually meant to hurt me." She pointed out, and Theodore reluctantly backed off, nodding his head.

"Captain." Blaise tore his gaze from her and glanced around them, noting that it was almost nightfall and that the villagers around them were beginning to head back to their homes. "We should head back. I believe General Severus has requested for your presence this evening."

"Very well." Pointedly ignoring Theodore's worried glances at her, Jade stood back up and turned around, shooting Vince and Greg a glare. "You two." She addressed them, causing both men to straighten with attention immediately. "I want you to carry the dog back to the castle. We're bringing him with us." She smirked at their gaping expressions and shrugged before she climbed back on her horse and began trotting ahead of them. "I intend to keep him."

"B—but, Captain." Vince and Greg blinked and stared at each other, looking confused. "There are _dozens _of well-trained, and well_-groomed _dogs back at the palace!" Vince shot a look at the shaggy, black dog in front of them again, wincing when it seemed to bark at him and give him a doggy grin. "Why do you want to bring back _this _animal? We don't know where it's been!"

"Exactly." Jade answered simply, her expression blank once more as she turned her head and stared quietly ahead of her. "We don't know where he's been…So he's just like _me._"

All four of them – Blaise, Theodore, Vincent and Greg – winced at their Captain's words, knowing full well the true meaning behind them and yet, not knowing how they could possibly respond. Without another word, Blaise reluctantly lowered his gaze, gripped tightly onto the reigns on his horse and followed after her, galloping as fast as he could back towards the palace.

* * *

_What the hell does Severus want this time?_

Jade couldn't help but feel a brief stab irritation towards her mentor as she got down from her horse and strode through the palace gates, walking briskly towards Severus' office. As she made her way around the long, winding hallways of the palace, she happened to pass by a few guards and soldiers along the way. They greeted her with a loud declaration of "Captain!", along with the customary salute of the Slytherin Royal Army before they continued on their way.

Honestly, the semantics of being a high-ranking officer _annoyed _her beyond measure sometimes, especially when it came to how the soldiers were always so awkward around her.

It wasn't that Jade didn't enjoy being in the army though – no, _that _wasn't true at all. In fact, it was pretty safe to say that Jade thoroughly enjoyed her job, mostly because it suited her immensely. Being part of the army, or perhaps more specifically, being the Captain of the elite squad that served as the Prince's Royal Guard, was _perfect _for her, because it allowed her to constantly protect him. Truthfully, if Jade was given a choice, she would prefer _never _to leave the Prince's side at all, because she wanted nothing more than to protect him with her own life.

For the last thirteen years, since before Jade could even remember, Prince Draco had been the one person in her life who had _ever _truly showed her any compassion or affection. She had been _nothing _before he had found her – a poor orphan girl who would have been sold into slavery, or worse, prostitution, had the Prince not come along and saved her. And then, as though _that _single act of his hadn't been enough, he had been kind enough to take her in – to bring her with him to his magnificent palace and to allow her to train and be part of his army.

Even afterwards, as she trained to be a fighter and soldier under Severus' harsh and grueling mentorship during the last few years of her life, Prince Draco had always been kind to her. He often called her to his room after hearing about her being hurt during training, and then he'd spend the evening healing her injuries with his magic, and encouraging her to keep fighting.

He never _once _asserted his superiority over her either – even if he _was _the Prince of the entire Slytherin Kingdom and she was nothing more than a mere _orphan_ who didn't even know who her parents were or where she had come from. In fact, whenever they were together, Jade never once heard the Prince bring up their difference in stature or even age. Instead, he smiled at her, teased her and shared most of his everyday experiences with her like she was his equal – like she was his dearest, close _friend – _and that was what truly made her admire him so much.

Jade had no living memory of her real name, her parents or family. Sometimes, in her dreams, she remembered flashes – a blinding, red light and a man's voice screaming out for her – but other than that, she had no recollection of anything from her past. She owed more than her _life _to the Prince – she owed him her very _existence. _If it wasn't for his love and friendship these last couple of years, Jade was certain that she never would have made it this far in her life.

She considered the Prince to be the only family she had. He was like an older brother to her, and he was the only person that she cared about. She would protect him to her last breath.

"Jade!"

Looking up at the familiar voice calling out her name, Jade blinked as she found herself staring up into the face of none other than Regulus Black, one of King Lucius' Head Generals. From what Jade knew, Regulus and Severus were the two most trusted leaders in King Lucius' Royal Guard – the same way she and Blaise were the two most trusted leaders in Prince Draco's.

"General Regulus, Sir." Looking up at the tall General, Jade straightened and greeted him with a formal salute.

"I apologize if I'm in your way. I was headed to see General Severus—"

"You don't have to salute me anymore, Jade." Regulus chuckled at her formality and waved her salute away. "With the stories I've been hearing about you, I wouldn't be surprised if _I'm _the one who ends up saluting _you _one of these days." He commented with an easy smile.

"That is _absurd, _General." Jade assured him awkwardly, playing idly with the handle of her sabres as she struggled to think of what to say.

"I still have a long way to go before I'm—"

"Nonsense. Trust me…Once Prince Draco assumes the throne, I am more than certain that you will be the Head of his Army. And it'll only be a matter of time before ol' Severus and I set off to retire." Regulus chuckled again before he eyed the sabres that Jade was playing with.

"Ah, I see that Prince Draco has given you those sabres then. Did you know that those used to belong to his Great, Grandfather, King Abraxas I? It's been in their family for generations now. Draco must be very fond of you." Regulus commented lightly, giving Jade a curious look.

Jade remained silent at that, unsure of how to respond to Regulus' words.

When she was fifteen, on the day Jade had officially joined the Royal Army, Prince Draco had summoned her to his room and had given her the weapons she used now – beautifully crafted twin sabres, each one with its hilt encrusted with the Seal of the Royal Family. From then on, for as long as she had been fighting, Jade had _always _used these sabres in battle. They were shorter and lighter than the single heavy swords that were traditionally used by all the men in the Slytherin Army. Truthfully, it was the lightness of her sabres that allowed her to move faster and more fluidly in the air when she fought, and that speed of hers became Jade's trademark.

She knew that in terms of strength alone, she wasn't the best soldier, but when it came to speed, precision and – modesty aside – pure _skill, _Jade knew that no one else could beat her. It was the reason even King Lucius and Queen Narcissa had consented to her incredibly fast rise of rank in the military, if only because they knew she'd be the best one to protect their only son.

"Anyway, I won't keep you any longer." Regulus spoke again, drawing Jade's attention back to him as he gave her a nod of dismissal. "My men and I are headed out to the Kingdom of Hufflepuff to deliver a few messages from the Queen. We won't be gone along. I trust you'll help Severus keep the Kingdom out of trouble while we're gone?" He gave her a teasing grin.

"Of course, General." Jade nodded and answered him with another salute, to which Regulus shook his head and let out an exasperated sigh before he turned around and walked off.

As soon as he was gone, Jade turned and pushed through the large, double doors leading to Severus' office. Two more soldiers greeted her with a salute as she entered, and after she addressed them properly, she finally walked over to where her mentor sat behind a large, mahogany table that overlooked a generous view of the entire Slytherin Kingdom behind him.

From where she stood in the middle of the room, Jade noted that Severus was bent over his desk, reading a few letters. Before she got the chance to announce her presence, he spoke.

"Get in and close the doors behind you. I don't have all day." He snapped impatiently, lifting his gaze from the stack of papers he held and shooting her a glare from across the room.

"Yes, Sir." Jade answered him evenly as she did what she was told.

"Sit down!" Severus ordered.

Biting her tongue to keep the nasty horde of comebacks that wanted to spill from her mouth, Jade walked stiffly over to the chair in front of his desk and planted herself down on it.

"You summoned me?" She looked up at him with a steady, impassive stare.

"I did." Severus kept his attention on the letters in his hand for a few more minutes before he finally set them aside and drew his eyes up, giving her a pointed look. "Though that was more than a couple of hours ago. What took you so long to get here?" He asked sharply.

"I apologize." Jade answered evenly without faltering.

"One of our southern villages reported a Death Eater attack. My squad and I went to dispose of the intruders." She explained.

"I see." Severus frowned at that, his eyes clouding with suspicion. "Hmm…Those Death Eater raids seem to be getting more and more frequent these days. I've been hearing reports of them in the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Kingdoms as well. How strange." He mused to himself.

"The Death Eaters are of no threat to us." Jade remarked pointedly, looking bored with the entire discussion.

"I can wipe them out without even breaking a sweat. You needn't worry."

"You're still such a _foolish _child!" Severus glared at her, looking angry at her arrogance. "No matter how skilled in combat you are, letting your guard down so easily is one of the worst mistakes you could make in battle. Have I not taught you anything?!" He reprimanded sharply.

"It's the truth, Sir." Jade grew angry at his words and scowled at her feet.

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not. A true leader will _always _value the safety of his men and his kingdom before his own skill." He paused after he said this and stared very intently at Jade across the table. "That being said, look me in the eye and tell me you understand, Jade."

"Sir?" Confused at the sudden seriousness of his voice, Jade obliged and lifted her head up slowly until she was staring at him, meeting his eyes with hers. "Understand what, exactly?"

"The reason I have called you here—" Severus paused and sighed, leaning back against his chair and raising a hand to massage his temples. "—is because I have news for you, Jade." He tensed and glanced at her again, leveling the younger soldier with a stern and pointed frown. "But before I give you this news, you must promise me that you will not let it get to your head."

Jade frowned at that, not quite sure how she should interpret his words, but as she was growing impatient with the whole discussion, she nodded anyway to show him she understood.

"Very well." Reaching under his table, Severus pulled out a small, elegantly decorated letter that was emblazoned with the Official Seal of the Slytherin Royal Family. "I am here to inform you that as of today – King Lucius has _decreed _and allowed your official promotion from the rank of Captain to the honorary rank of _General—_" Severus paused again when he saw the way Jade's eyes widened at his announcement and in spite of himself, he gave her a wry smile.

"—from this day forward, you shall report directly to Prince Draco and him alone. You will remain in charge of his Royal Guard – Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Greg Goyle and Vincent Crabbe – but you will now _also _be in charge of _all _of the soldiers assigned to him. You will be directly responsible for safeguarding His Royal Highness' safety, especially when he is traveling outside the palace. Because of this, you are also thereby granted diplomatic immunity in the other Kingdoms. This means that, where the Prince's safety is concerned, you will not be charged for murder if you end up killing anybody else in the other Kingdoms." Severus finished.

"I…see." Jade continued to stare at him, her expression frozen in a blank expression as she struggled to take everything in. When after a few minutes and she _still _couldn't seem to find her voice to speak, Severus crossed his arms and smirked, leaning backwards against his seat.

"Have you nothing to say…_General_?" He asked, thoroughly amused at her reaction.

"I—" Jade finally recovered from her initial shock and paused as she looked up, meeting Severus' smirk with a calm smile of gratitude.

"—_thank you, _Sir. I appreciate this opportunity."

"Don't thank me." Severus snorted, rolling his eyes at her words. "Thank the King. Or perhaps more accurately, you should thank Prince Draco. As I am _more _than certain that it was him who pushed for your promotion to General in the first place." He remarked with a scoff.

"Very well." Jade ignored the mockery in his words and got up from her seat, giving Severus another salute.

"I shall do exactly that and thank him. Permission to be dismissed, Sir?"

"Jade." Severus ignored her request and addressed her sharply again, leveling the young General with a worried, knowing look. "I should not have to warn you. This new…_development _will have you spending a lot of your time – day _and _night – with the Prince. You will even be accompanying him everywhere in his travels. There will be days, sometimes weeks, where you will have only each other for company." Severus' voice grew heavy with warning as he glared at her from where he sat behind his table. "You are _not, _under any circumstances,to develop any romantic feelings for the Prince while you are his General. Am I making myself clear about this?"

Jade's eyes widened at his words and she stared blankly at him, her features frozen into a dazed, expressionless mask. When she managed to recover herself a few moments later, she tore her eyes from his and ignored the ache in her chest as she glared down quietly at her feet.

"Look, I know that the two of you are _close _and I know that you have grown quite… _attached _to Draco all these years, but I am only concerned for _you, _Jade." Severus sighed at her reaction but he continued. "It isn't just because of your position in the Army. Prince Draco is to be married soon. The King and Queen are already arranging for him to meet with all the eligible daughters of the noble families of Slytherin as we speak. You must not be so attached to him—"

"I know all that, Severus." Jade cut him off firmly as she lifted her eyes and shook her head. With a completely calm, unperturbed expression on her face, she nodded and smiled slightly at him – though her smile was cold and formal and it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Contrary to what everyone else may think of me, I harbor no romantic feelings for Prince Draco. Granted, I do care about him a lot – yes. I _do _love him—" Severus started at that but Jade went on before he could interrupt her. "—but as an older brother. Nothing more." She finished.

"So I see." Severus didn't look quite as convinced as she would have wanted him to be, but he sighed and nodded all the same at her, glancing back down at his desk. When Jade continued to linger in front of him, waiting for him to say something, he gave her a curt nod.

"You are dismissed."

* * *

The staircase leading up to Prince Draco's private bedchambers were long, winding and luxuriously elegant – decorated with the most lavish paintings and beautiful thick carpets that were the same shade of green as the scarf around Jade's neck. It was the color of Slytherin green – the very same color worn by all the members of the Army and even the Royal Family.

It was that same green shade that Prince Draco himself always wore. As he was the Crown Prince, he often wore a beautiful, dark green cape around his shoulders, and Jade found that she secretly loved how the Prince's regal cape was the exact same color of her scarf. Ironically enough, the scarf she wore every day had actually come from the Prince as well. It was the same scarf he had given to her thirteen years ago, the day he had saved her from those slave traders and had taken her with him to his palace. Jade personally washed and dried it herself every morning so that even after all these years, it still retained its rich, elegant color.

Her squad often teased her about how she wore the scarf so much that it had become a way for her enemies to recognize her easily in the middle of a battlefield. Even then, however, she'd never stop wearing it, and she'd never let anybody else take it off – except for the Prince.

Jade stopped as she climbed the last step from the regal staircase that led up to the Royal Family's quarters and made her way over to the elegant, double doors of Prince Draco's room. Just as she got there, however, and she was just about to raise her hand to knock on the door, the doors suddenly slid open. Before Jade could react, a dark-haired, slender woman – wrapped only in the renowned Lady-in-Waiting silk robes of magenta and silver – stepped out.

Even without seeing her face, Jade knew from the extravagant patterns and embroidery on the woman's robes that she was Pansy Parkinson, one of Prince Draco's Ladies-in-Waiting.

Jade wasn't sure how to react at first, so she bowed her head and stepped awkwardly aside to allow the older woman to pass through. Up until now, she had only encountered one of Prince Draco's Ladies-in-Waiting only _once _before. That was five years ago – when she was only thirteen-years-old. She didn't know the name of the woman she had seen back then. All she knew was that the woman had been in her early twenties, and that she was incredibly _beautiful, _with luscious curves and tousled, golden-blonde hair. Jade had refused to acknowledge it even back then, but seeing how beautiful that woman was, especially since Jade was only 13-years-old at the time, had made her feel so _inadequate _that she fled, and she refused to visit the Prince in his room for _months _before he finally went down to her room himself to talk to her.

To her embarrassment, Prince Draco had somehow figured out exactly _why _Jade hadn't been coming up to visit him the last few months, and to her confusion, instead of getting angry with her for acting like a jealous, silly little kid, he had teased her, then _apologized _for allowing her to see such a thing. Afterwards, he knelt down, kissed the top of her hair and promised her that he would strive so that she wouldn't have to see another one of his Ladies-in-Waiting again.

As he enveloped her in his arms, the Prince then assured Jade, flashing her that warm teasing smile of his, that no matter what happens, she'd always be his number one favorite girl.

_I wonder if he still feels the same way. _Jade tried to squelch down that familiar sting of jealousy in her chest.

She blanked her face, meeting Pansy's saccharine smile in front of her.

"Oh…_Excuse me._" Pansy ignored the visible dislike in Jade's expression and smirked as she readjusted her loosened robes around her otherwise bare body. "I wasn't aware that His Highness was expecting you, Jade. He would have ejected me out sooner had he known _you_ were coming…_Captain._" Pansy's long lashes fluttered as she met Jade's glare with a smug smile.

"You're right. He _wasn't _expecting me. I just have news to discuss with him." Undaunted by the older woman's disbelieving expression, Jade stared back at her and met her smile with a cold one of her own. "And actually, I do believe that it's…_General _now, Pansy. Don't be rude."

"Excuse me?" Pansy faltered slightly, her eyes growing wide with shock.

"I've been promoted." It was Jade's turn to smirk at her this time and, without waiting for Pansy to say anything else, she stepped around her like she was a mere inanimate object. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have important matters to discuss with His Highness." She drawled.

"Humph." Pansy scowled at Jade's words but just as she was opening the doors to the Prince's chambers, she added under her breath. "It doesn't matter _how _good you are at fighting, you know. No matter what happens, Jade, Prince Draco will _never _look at you the way he looks at _me._" Pansy pointed out with a nasty smile, causing Jade to freeze in place, her fists clenching.

Releasing the doorknob in front of her, Jade turned around calmly, lifting her chin until she was staring, face to face, at Pansy's self-satisfied expression. When the older woman simply smirked back at her, Jade arched a single eyebrow and gave her a blank, eerily dark smile back.

"Unlike _you, _Pansy, I harbor no such silly romantic feelings for the Prince – nor do I fool myself into thinking that he sees me as more than his friend. _You, _however, obviously do not realize that once the Prince finally gets married – which is soon, as we have been informed by the King – he will remove you, and all his other Ladies-in-Waiting. And where will you all be?" Jade's lips curled upwards into a sneer when she saw the way Pansy's face paled at her words.

"I—I—" Pansy stammered incoherently, unable to find her voice.

"I thought so." Jade continued to smile at her, though her smile still never reached her eyes. "Don't _ever _mock me. Between the two of us, _you're _the expendable one." She drawled.

"How dare you—" Pansy's eyes had narrowed and she looked as though she wanted to say something else but Jade never gave her that chance. She turned around and pulled open the doors to Prince Draco's bedroom, stepping into the room and closing the doors behind her.

As soon as she was inside, it didn't take her long before she was able to make out the Prince's tall, lean-muscled form. Like the many times Jade had come to see him, Prince Draco was sitting in his favorite spot – a thick, lush carpet situated in front of the fireplace at the back of his room. He was reading a magical textbook as he lazily levitated his crown around and around the air above his head. When he noticed her presence, however, Prince Draco glanced up from his book immediately and he smiled at her, his crown dropping to the carpet by his feet.

"Jade." He greeted, his gray eyes growing soft as he stood up and began walking across the room towards her. When he saw the tense expression on her face, however, he hesitated, reaching a hand up and raking his fingers through his tousled blonde hair. "You didn't tell me you were coming to visit. If I knew, I would have—" He sighed and gave her an apologetic look.

"I saw Pansy. You have nothing to apologize for, Your Highness." Jade assured him as she bowed her head to him once before she looked around and gave him a questioning look.

"I wonder…May I have an audience with you, my Prince?"

"Of course!" Prince Draco looked exasperated at her question. He walked back over to the rug in front of the fireplace and sat down, patting the spot beside him. "Come here and sit beside me. You know you're always welcome in here when you want to talk." He assured her.

Jade hesitated, biting her lip and staring awkwardly at him from across the room.

Unlike the usual way he was fully decked out in his green and silver attire whenever he was in the throne room with his father, Prince Draco wore only a pair of black slacks whenever he was in his room, leaving the rest of his toned chest exposed. As Jade had often been in his room before – many times, in fact, while she was growing up – she had grown quite used to the sight and normally, seeing him only half-dressed like this wouldn't have bothered her. _However, _the fact is – she had just seen _Pansy _walk out of his room. Thinking back on _that _now, especially seeing the Prince's half-naked state and the way his immaculate blonde hair wasn't as perfect and in place as it usually was, really bothered Jade. She just couldn't stop thinking about what must have been going on in this very room only a few hours ago, and she froze up like a statue.

Unfortunately for her, the nature of her thoughts must have shown on her face because before she knew it, Prince Draco had made his way across the room toward her again. When she didn't respond to the first time he called her, he chuckled and reached out to caress her cheek.

"You're jealous again, aren't you?" Prince Draco cajoled her gently, using the same hand he had around her cheek to trail his fingers gently until he was caressing the nape of her neck. Unsure of what to say in response, Jade lowered her eyes to the floor, her cheeks flushed pink.

"Forgive me, Your Highness—" She started but he cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Don't apologize." He told her firmly, and without waiting for her to answer him, he leaned over, planting a tender, reassuring kiss onto the top of her head. "Have I not told you before, Jade? You have _nothing _to be jealous of. You'll _always _be my favorite girl." He teased.

"I…I know." Jade swallowed the lump in her throat and lowered her gaze again, staring intently at the ground by her feet. "I just…I just came up here because I wanted to _thank you, _Your Highness. You see—" She paused when Prince Draco reached up, readjusting her scarf around her neck. "—I've just spoken with Severus. He told me I've been promoted to General—"

"So I've heard." The Prince interrupted her again, his lips quirking upwards into smile.

"Congratulations, love. You deserve it. I only helped present the idea to father." He told her.

"Thank you, my Prince." Jade smiled at him again, trying her best to ignore the way her heart fluttered at his endearment for her.

"It is an honor to be at your side." She added quietly.

"I'll _always _want you by my side, Jade." Prince Draco whispered, an unusually tender look warming his gray eyes. When Jade blinked at him, unsure of how to interpret his words, he shook his head and averted his gaze sharply – only for him to glower at a wound on her left leg.

"I told you to be more careful with yourself! What is this?!" He demanded angrily, though he didn't bother waiting for her answer as he reached out and snatched her roughly by her wrists, yanking her toward the rug in front of his fireplace. "Sit down! You're not leaving this room until I've healed every last one of those blasted wounds all over you again." He growled.

"I'm sorry but sometimes, it's unavoidable—" Jade tried to apologize as he pushed her down onto the rug but he shushed her again, silencing the rest of her protests with an impatient wave of his hand. She opened her mouth to argue with him but he silenced her with a glare.

"Not _another _word." He ordered, and Jade snapped her mouth shut, immediately falling silent. Unable to do anything else, she watched as the Prince tended to the wounds on her legs.

Ever since Jade had joined the military, she remembered that Prince Draco had _always _used his magic to heal her wounds or injuries from battle. It was probably why – in spite of all her violent tussles and fights on the battlefield– Jade never had any lasting scars on her body.

"You _know _I don't like seeing any of these ugly scars on you." Prince Draco admonished her again as he trailed the glowing white tips of his fingers along the wounds on her ankles. "You're _beautiful, _Jade. And no matter how much of a strong fighter you are, you should always _feel _beautiful." After he finished healing up her wounds, he drew up slowly and met her eyes.

"Is that better?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered, sitting back against the soft rug. "Thank you, Your Highness."

"Come over here and sit closer to me, love." Prince Draco ordered gently as he leaned back and patted the space on the rug in front of him. He waited patiently as Jade sat up and scooted beside him, settling into a cross-legged position between the Prince and the fireplace.

As she sat down, she felt the Prince reach up, entangling his fingers into her hair and gently uncoiling her long tresses from her ponytail until the strands cascaded freely against her waist. Afterwards, as the Prince began caressing her hair, threading his fingers tenderly through the midnight locks, Jade's eyes softened and the earlier uneasiness she felt began to melt away.

Prince Draco noticed the relaxed expression on her face immediately and he chuckled, leaning over her shoulder and giving her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. When she reddened at that and bit her lip, hastily dropping her gaze to her feet, his shoulders shook with laughter.

"Must I always have to comb your hair for you to ease up around me?" He teased.

"I am _always _at ease around you, my Prince." Jade answered, sighing to herself as she leaned back and continued to allow him to caress her long tresses away from her face.

He didn't answer, humming as he combed her hair out while gazing at their reflections on the mirror above the fireplace. When she met his eyes through the mirror, he held her gaze.

"You're beautiful." He told her simply, his eyes soft as they lingered on her face.

"I wish you would stop saying such things." Jade tore her eyes away and lowered her gaze to her hands to hide the redness on her face. "I never know how to respond."

He hid a smile at her reaction, reaching out to grasp one of Jade's hands and interlacing their fingers together tightly. When she blinked and stared up at him, confused, he spoke again.

"I've been meaning to tell you." Prince Draco began uncertainly, a sigh escaping his lips. He brought their hands up, studying their interlocked fingers with a grim look on his face. "My Mother has decided that she would like for me to push through with a formal betrothal between me and Lady Astoria." When Jade's fingers tensed around his at his words, he looked up and offered her a weak smile. "Astoria is the youngest daughter of the Duke of Athendale."

"I've met her before during one of the Queen's parties, Your Highness." Jade answered politely. Though she was feeling a strange heaviness in her chest, her face gave nothing away. "My sincerest congratulations. She's quite lovely. Though, I fear she might be a bit too young–"

"She's only three years younger than me, Jade." Prince Draco interrupted her with a grin, looking amused at her reaction. "I doubt you have any right to deem her as 'too young'."

"You _know _what I mean." Jade chimed in hastily, growing a little irritated when she felt more blood rushing into her pale cheeks. "You might have difficulty getting along with her–"

"_You're _ten years younger than I am, and I get along with you just fine, Jade." He pointed out quietly, his fingers pausing in their caress of her hair as he stared at her again. "I'm afraid my reservation about marrying her is not a question of age. I fear it is more a question of…_compatibility. _I have met with Lady Astoria before, and I'm not quite sure that we get along."

When the Prince paused and stared intently at her, as though waiting for her response, Jade lifted her gaze up to his again. Careful to keep her face devoid of any emotion, she nodded and blurted out the first few words that came to mind. "Like I said…You have my sincerest congratulations, Your Highness. I am certain she will be a lovely bride for you." She said softly.

To her confusion, Prince Draco's expression seemed to grow sad at her words. When Jade said nothing else and merely lowered her eyes again, refusing to look at him, he sighed.

"Really?" He dropped her hand, turning his head and staring darkly at the fireplace in front of them. "That's all you have to say to me, Jade?" He asked, his eyes clouding with anger.

"You truly have _nothing _to say about my marrying Astoria?" He demanded.

"I don't understand." Jade blinked at him, watching as the Prince stood up, his jaw clenched as he began pacing the length of his room. "What do you want me to say, my Prince?"

"I don't know, Jade! I just want you to say…something! _Anything!_" Prince Draco blurted out. He let out an angry sigh of frustration before sinking back down onto the rug in front of her. "Any reaction is better than that blank-faced, formal response you insist on giving me now!"

"I have…_nothing _to say, Draco." Jade answered him evenly. This time, the Prince looked up when he noticed the way she had dropped his title. "Why should my opinion even matter? I am just a soldier, Your Highness. Ultimately, what I say should not matter to you." She told him.

"Jade." At the sad tone of his voice, Jade met his gaze again, watching intently as his features darkened with regret. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he went on. "I am asking you this now _not _as your Prince or as your ruler." Slowly, he knelt before her and reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing her fingers. "I am asking you this as your…_friend. _As your very close friend." He paused and lifted his eyes until he was staring into her green orbs.

"Do you think I should marry Lady Astoria?" He asked softly.

"I think—" Again, Jade chose to ignore the painful ache in her chest as she broke their eye contact and dropped her head in defeat. She was unable to look him in the eye as she answered. "—that you have a responsibility to your people. As the future King of Slytherin, it is imperative that you choose a good queen. And Lady Astoria would be a perfect match for you."

The light that had been in Prince Draco's eyes began to vanish slowly, and where there had been a strangely hopeful look on his face, his features clouded over into a small, sad smile.

"I knew you were going to say that." He whispered quietly.

Before Jade even got the chance to figure out the meaning behind what he said, Prince Draco had already turned away from her, staring grimly at the fireplace in front of them. ""In any case, I suppose it shouldn't matter yet. My engagement with Lady Astoria has yet to be formalized. Father still wants me to meet with the Princess of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff for one last time before I make my final decision on who I want to marry." He told her, a frown marring his face. "If, by the end of my trip, I decide that none of the Princesses are compatible with me, then I _will _marry Lady Astoria before the end of next winter." After he had said this, Prince Draco paused and he glanced questioningly at Jade again over his shoulder.

Despite the impassive look on her face, Jade felt as though he had kicked her in the gut.

"That being said, I will be leaving for Ravenclaw in three days' time to call upon Princess Cho." He glanced at her again, giving her a slight nod. "I wish for you to accompany me, Jade."

"Of course, My Prince." Jade kept her face hidden from him, avoiding his eyes.

They both fell silent after that, staring awkwardly at everything else around the room except each other. Finally, after a long moment, Prince Draco sighed and he turned back around to face her. When he saw the way Jade was biting her lip and staring down at the carpet by her feet, his expression softened. He reached out to cup her cheek, tilting her chin up to face him.

As she looked up and met his gaze, Jade was relieved to note that the hardness was gone from his eyes – and in its place was that usual tender look that he reserved only for her. Without waiting for her to speak, he leaned down and planted a kiss onto the top of her hair.

"I'm sorry." Prince Draco began as he snaked his arms down, wrapping them around her waist and pulling her against him into a hug. "I didn't mean to burst out at you like that, Jade. Truthfully, I've just been so burdened these past few days with how much my parents have been pressuring me to find a bride that I took it out on you. Forgive me, my love." He glanced at her.

"There is nothing to forgive." Jade closed her eyes and allowed him to pull her closer against him so that her cheek rested against his chest and he pressed his face into her dark hair.

They spent a few more minutes of silence in each other's arms for awhile, neither one willing to let go for fear of the other moving away. Finally, when it almost seemed as though the Prince had fallen asleep against her, Jade sighed and carefully began to extract herself from him.

Prince Draco stiffened immediately and his eyes flew open in question.

"Jade?" He shot her a worried frown.

"It's getting late, Your Highness." Jade ignored the look of protest on his face and began to stand up, glancing at the clock by the corner of his room.

"I should go back to my room—"

"Don't leave."

Before she could say anything else, the Prince's arms had already tightened around her waist and he leaned down, resting his head against her lap and reclining the rest of his body against the lush, white carpet. When she froze up and stared down at him, thoroughly confused by his actions, he reached for her other hand and guided her fingers towards his blonde hair.

"Stay with me until I fall asleep_._" The sleepiness of Prince Draco's tired voice, along with the way his eyes were already beginning to grow heavy from exhaustion, made her realize that she couldn't deny him anything. With a sigh, Jade nodded, leaning against his bed behind her.

Then, as she watched his eyes close, she cradled his head in her lap, her fingers combing tenderly through his hair. With soft green eyes, she leaned down, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night, my Prince."

His lips tugged up into a smile at her voice, and he gave her hand one last squeeze.

"Good night, my love."

* * *

**Notes: **The relationship between Jade and Draco is really supposed to be strange and confusing at this point. It sort of borders along that very fine line between what's considered platonic and romantic. This is mainly because Jade hasn't quite figured out her feelings for Draco yet. I'm attributing this mostly to their age difference – since Draco is 10 years older than her here, it would make sense that he'd be the first one to realize how he feels about her. Don't worry, Jade's feelings will become much clearer as we progress more into the story, I promise. :D

**So…Like it? Love it? Hate it? Should I continue?! Please let me know your thoughts! :D**


	3. Jade

**The Princess Knight**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters that you recognize in this story. Everything belongs to JK Rowling. All I own is the plot.

**Pairings:** Draco/femHarry, others to be decided.

**Notes: **Wow, I noticed that I'm getting a lot of positive feedback and responses for this story and I just have to say – thank you all so much for the love! Keep them coming! :D

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Jade**

"You're a strangely quiet dog." Jade mused out loud, mostly to herself, as she sat on her bed that morning and stared at the large, scruffy-haired black dog that lay sprawled out on the rug beside her bed. When the dog – she had taken to calling him _'Lance'_ - merely barked once at her in agreement before resting his chin on top of the back of his paws, she chuckled softly.

Reaching over the side of her bed, she leaned down, scratching behind his ears. He seemed to enjoy the attention enough, and when Jade stopped, he let out a whine of protest.

"Would you like to go with me on our trip?" Jade remarked as she glanced at him again, resuming her scratching of his ears. Lance let out a short yip at her words and he stuck his tongue out before he glanced up at her with what almost seemed like a doggy grin on his face.

"Hmmm." She leaned back against the pillows behind her with a thoughtful frown.

It still really amazed Jade how Lance was such an unusually quiet and observant dog. Often times, he wouldn't really bark or make loud noises like most dogs were known to do. Instead, those times when he wasn't in Jade's room, Lance often settled himself into a quiet, secluded corner somewhere in the palace and spent the time watching everything around him.

He was uncannily intelligent too – it showed in his bright gray eyes when he stared at people. In fact, it had only been _two _days since Jade had formally adopted him as her pet and already, he responded perfectly to his name and the things she asked him to do. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew it was impossible, she'd swear that Lance understood human language.

"Excuse me, General? Are you in there?"

A loud, familiar male voice approaching from the outside of her room suddenly drew her attention, causing Jade to look up from Lance and stare at the doors. When she didn't answer, she heard a soft knock, followed by Theodore slowly entering her room. He was holding a sheet of parchment in his hand, and when he saw her, he greeted her with a formal salute and nod.

"Good morning, General. If I may—"

Theodore hesitated when he saw the blank stare that Jade was giving him.

"—I was instructed by General Severus to explain to you the Prince's itinerary for the next few months. As I understand it, we'll be accompanying him in his travels."

"Go on then." Without her disinterested expression changing, Jade merely nodded at him before turning her attention back to Lance and resuming her scratching along his ears.

"Yes, Ma'am." Theodore reddened before he straightened in front of her and began to read from the parchment in his hand.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll be leaving early for the Kingdom of Ravenclaw. It will take a few hours to get there, but we should be there by nightfall. King Lucius intends to stay in Ravenclaw for a week, at most, before we leave for Hufflepuff."

"I understand." Jade answered, looking bored as she lifted her gaze and acknowledged him with a wave of her hand. "The road to Ravenclaw is ripe with bandits and Death Eaters, but we'll manage. That being said, I want Greg and Vince to assume the front line." She instructed.

"Yes, Ma'am." Theodore paused to write down what she had said before he went on. "Hufflepuff is farther than Ravenclaw, so it'll take 2 days before we get there. I'm afraid the King will be unable to join us. Severus said that he and King Lucius will meet up with us in Gryffindor."

"I see." Jade intoned, giving him another impassive incline of her head.

"Lastly, once we get to Gryffindor—" Theodore blinked and finally lifted his gaze from the parchment he held so he could study her face. "—General Severus has made it quite clear that he would like for us to keep a very close eye on His Highness. As we all know, the Kingdom of Gryffindor is home to _many _Death Eaters and we must be on the look-out for them while—"

"Yes, I'm aware of the dangers that surround Gryffindor, Nott." Jade interrupted impatiently, growing weary of the entire discussion. "Now if there's nothing else to discuss—"

"Th—there _is _something else, General!" Theodore suddenly blurted out, catching Jade completely off-guard altogether when he stepped toward her and closed the doors behind him. Frowning, Jade's eyes narrowed at his behavior and she stiffened, giving him a cautious glare.

"Nott, just what _exactly _is it do you think you are doing—"

"I—I was wondering…_Ma'am._" Theodore began uncertainly, biting his lip and intertwining his fingers nervously behind him. "I was wondering if you'd given…you know…what I'd said to you before…any thought. Wh—what I mean is—" He stammered nervously, breaking out into a cold sweat when Jade continued to give him a blank stare."—I was wondering if you'd taken the time to consider…my _proposal _to you before. You know, when I asked you if you—"

"—if I want to marry you?" Jade supplied bluntly, looking unimpressed with his words.

"…Yes, that one." Theodore's eyes dimmed at that and his shoulders slumped slightly at her reaction. When Jade didn't say anything else, he let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. "Jade, I have asked you over and _over _again. Merlin, I've made my feelings for you known since before you were made _Captain_, but you still don't want to give me a chance! What is it really—"

"I've no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with you, Nott. Even then." Jade answered him calmly, oblivious to the crestfallen expression on Theodore's face.

"Quite frankly, you and I have nothing in common, and I would be a very ill-suited wife for you." She drawled.

"How would _you _know?" Theodore countered, growing angry when he saw the lack of any emotion on her face. "You consider _every _single man you meet ill-suited for you, because you're too damn busy pining after the one man you could never have!" He accused her sharply.

At his words, the blank expression on Jade's face finally faltered, and for the first time since their conversation started, there was a noticeable spark of anger that lit up her green eyes.

"And just _who_ are you talking about?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"You know very well who I'm talking about!" Theodore hissed back at her with a cold sneer. "You've been in love with Prince Draco for thirteen years, haven't you? Admit it – he's the reason you've been shutting yourself off from every man who offers for you." He demanded.

"That is _not _true." Jade hissed back quietly at him, clenching her jaw. "Do not presume you understand the extent of my relationship with Prince Draco, Nott." She warned him softly, giving him a dark, foreboding glare. "Frankly, you have no business meddling in affairs that are not yours. I have made my feelings for you very clear. So now, if you do not wish to report back to Severus with a severed arm, I suggest you get out of my room and shut the door behind you."

Theodore's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to argue with her.

"Jade—"

"I said leave." Jade repeated coldly. "That's an order, Nott."

"Very well…_General._"

Despite the sarcastic way Theodore had drawled out her title, Jade didn't bother looking up at him again, and when she finally heard the distinct sound of her bedroom doors closing loudly against the walls, Jade tightened her fists and took in a deep, steady inhale of breath.

* * *

_How much longer do we have to entertain them before they leave? _Draco thought wearily to himself, holding back an irritated sigh as he lifted his head and nodded politely to whatever it was Lady Astoria was saying to him. Much to his annoyance, it turns out that she was a very _talkative _woman, and he found that he could not keep up with her constant chatter.

He had been entertaining her company ever since they had finished supper. Astoria and her father Winston Greengrass, the Duke of Athendale, had decided to pay Draco and his father one last visit before Prince Draco left to meet with the Princesses of the other Royal Kingdoms.

If Draco were to be honest, both the Duke's blonde daughters – Lady Astoria and Lady Daphne – _were _quite attractive, but then again, he was old enough to have chased around a lot of attractive women before, and frankly, he had grown quite tired of it. _Now_, it took more than just good looks and charm for a woman to hold his attention, and it frustrated Draco to no end.

More importantly, it irritated him _now _whenever he imagined being married to some beautiful, incredibly _vapid _woman who would no doubt bore him out of his mind with her mindless chatter about gossip, gowns, jewelry, lavish parties and Merlin only knows what else.

_And Astoria is slowly proving herself to be exactly that. _Draco thought, a disdainful sneer beginning to curl his lips as he arched an eyebrow at her and leaned back against his throne.

They had been in the throne room for more than _two _hours already, and by then, Draco could see that even his parents – King Lucius and Queen Narcissa – were beginning to look tired from keeping up conversation with the Duke and his family. When the Duke's wife shifted the topic again and engaged Queen Narcissa into another conversation about the latest party she had just arranged, Draco lost interest and he lowered his attention to Jade kneeling below him.

As Draco expected, however, Jade paid him no attention. Instead, her sharp green eyes were focused intently on their guests, her hands hovering over the holsters of her twin sabres.

It was actually an old custom that had been practiced by the Slytherin Royal Family for generations now. Wherever the King sat – whether it was in his silver-encrusted seat in the Royal Throne Room or simply just in the dinner table – it was always his most trusted _General _who took the place by his right side. Of course, this custom also extended to the Crown Prince.

This was why – as both King Lucius and Prince Draco sat in their high throne chairs in the middle of the room – their Generals, Severus and Jade, knelt down, on one knee, in the seat directly to the right and _below _the King and Prince's throne. Both Generals were decked out in their complete green and silver armor and together, they looked extremely _intimidating. _They wore blank, stony expressions on their face, and they gripped their weapons tightly – ready to strike any unfortunate intruder who dared to approach the Royal Family while in their presence.

When Draco noticed the way Jade suddenly tensed, however, he looked up, noting that Astoria had risen from her chair and was making her way towards his throne. At the sharp, frightening look that Jade gave her, however, she paled and shot Prince Draco a panicked look.

"May I approach your throne, Your Highness?" Astoria asked, trying not to wince at the threatening glare that Jade was still giving her from beside him. "I only wish to give you a present before you leave for your trip." She added hastily, bowing her head to show her respect. At her words, Draco noticed for the first time the package Astoria had been carrying in her arms.

"You may." Draco nodded, and he shot a hand out to his right, calming Jade by placing a firm, reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You'll have to forgive my General, milady. I understand that Jade can be quite intimidating when she wants to protect me, and she isn't really known to be social to anyone else." He shot a quick glance at Jade from the corner of his eye and gave her a teasing smile. When both Queen Narcissa and King Lucius chuckled with agreement at their son's words, Jade reddened slightly and bowed her head, lowering her green eyes to the floor.

"Nevertheless, I have no doubt that she is the most skilled fighter in all Four Kingdoms." Draco added softly, causing Jade to look up again and stare at him.

"I trust her completely with my life." Before anyone could notice the warmth in the look he gave her, Draco tore his gaze away from Jade and glanced at Astoria again, acknowledging her with an incline of his head.

"You wanted to approach me?" He beckoned her forward.

"O—oh yes, Your Highness!" Astoria shook herself from her thoughts and stepped up to the Prince's throne. She knelt down slowly onto the thick, green carpet laid out in front of him, but when Draco gave her an expectant look, she blushed darkly and gazed at her father for help.

Seeing the confused look on the Prince's face, the Duke of Athendale chuckled and spoke. "Astoria is very skilled in home crafts, Your Highness. She has crafted a beautiful cloak for you. One that is made of _silk, _the finest our Kingdom has to offer. She would like for you to bring it with you during your travels, so that it will remind you of _her _even when she's not with you."

Before the Prince could even react, his mother – Queen Narcissa – suddenly chimed in from where she sat on the throne on Lucius' left. "How thoughtful! That's very sweet, Astoria." Without waiting for her son to answer, Narcissa rewarded Astoria with a wide, approving smile.

"Isn't that lovely, dear?" She turned to her husband, giving King Lucius a pointed look. "It's always nice to see a young lady skilled in home crafts, there are hardly any of those left anymore! Why, nowadays, I meet so many young girls in our villages who tell me that they wish to join the _army _when they grow up! Imagine that. Women aren't meant to be good soldiers—"

"_Mother!_" Draco glared at her, his eyes flicking briefly to Jade.

"Well, it's true." Narcissa huffed at her son's reprimand with a sniff.

"Not to mean any offense, My Queen." King Lucius finally spoke up for the first time since the conversation had started. "But a fair number of women have already signed up to join our army last month, and Severus tells me that they are faring tremendously well, some better than the men, in fact." He turned to glance at Severus for confirmation, and when his General nodded, King Lucius continued. "I fear that our notion of women being incapable of becoming good soldiers is slowly becoming outdated. In fact, I welcome more women joining our army."

"I understand." Narcissa looked a bit put out at being corrected twice, but she recovered herself quickly and turned to smile at Astoria again. "Well in any case, I still think that you're incredibly thoughtful, darling. Go on then, Draco. Open it and show it to us." She urged.

Sighing, Draco nodded and took the offered package from Astoria. She remained kneeling on the floor in front of him, watching shyly as he unwrapped the package and slowly unraveled the beautiful and very intricately designed green and silver cloak out onto his lap.

"How _exquisite!_" Narcissa exclaimed, smiling at Astoria and her parents.

"I agree." King Lucius smiled, nodding at Astoria before he turned to give her father, the Duke, an appraising look. "I've no doubt the man your daughter will marry is very lucky indeed."

"Ah yes, but my King." The Duke responded with a chuckle, flicking his gaze back and forth between Draco and Astoria. "I do believe my young Astoria hopes that it will be His Highness, Prince Draco, who is to be the man that she would have as her husband." He kidded.

King Lucius and the Duke both chuckled when they saw the blush on Astoria's face darken even more at their words.

"We shall see then, Winston." King Lucius assured him.

"Very well, my friend." Duke Winston nodded before he finally stood up from his chair, holding a hand out to his wife to help her to her feet. "I believe we shall have to get going now. The roads are quite dangerous at this time, it would be best for us to leave early." He told him.

"Right then." Narcissa interrupted Lucius before he could answer and turned to give her son a pointed glare. "Well, Draco? Aren't you going to thank Astoria for her lovely gift?"

"I was about to, Mother." He answered with a sigh.

Despite himself, Draco couldn't help but agree that the cloak _was_ beautiful, and he had to give her credit for the obvious amount of time and skill that she had obviously put into making it for him. Glancing down at her kneeling form in front of him, he reached out to take her hand. "Indeed, it's a beautiful cloak, milady. No doubt that every time I wear it, I shall think of you and your beauty." He told her, causing Astoria to blush prettily and bow her head to him.

"You are too kind, My Prince." She whispered, looking pleased with his words.

As Draco leaned down and raised Astoria's hand to his lips, placing a kiss onto the back of her palm, he couldn't help but notice the way Jade suddenly averted her gaze from the scene and stared down quietly at the floor near her feet to hide her face. Frowning, Draco pulled away from Astoria and stared at Jade, waiting patiently for her to lift her gaze again to meet his. When she met his eyes, however, his frown only deepened. For the life of him, Draco really _hated_ how, by reflex, Jade always knew when to blank her expression so that he never had any idea what she was thinking. It frustrated him to no end, because all he ever wanted was to understand her.

Fortunately, Draco didn't have to say anything else as Lady Astoria rose slowly to her feet and began to make her way back to her parents. After both King Lucius and Duke Winston exchanged a few last words, Severus rose from his seat as well and, at the King's request, escorted the Duke and his family out of the throne room and back to the entrance of the palace.

As soon as they were gone, Prince Draco leaned back against his seat with a sigh. He turned his head, listening closely to his mother as she spoke to King Lucius with a hushed voice.

"Honestly, Lucius." She began, sighing and rolling her eyes at the ceiling in exasperation. "Must you and Draco go through with this little trip of yours? I still do _not _understand why you insist on Draco meeting with the Princesses of the other Kingdoms when _clearly, _we have already found our son a fine match in Lady Astoria—" Hearing her words, Draco flinched and he opened his mouth to argue with her but she kept talking. "—I mean, she is _everything _our son could ever want in a woman. She is beautiful and gentle, she will know how to care for him—"

"Mother, I can _hear _you. I'm still right here." Draco interrupted her angrily, his voice dripping with sarcasm and his features twisting into a sneer. "And besides, I still don't see what the big fuss is about Astoria. She's just like every _other _daughter of all the other random nobles that I've met over the past few years. There are a dozen other women who are just like her!"

"Not with her lineage, there aren't!" Narcissa reminded him haughtily. "Her father is my second cousin. She comes from a long line of traditional noble families who can be traced back as far as our own bloodline, Draco. Remember, when you choose a wife, you are marrying not just her, after all. You are also marrying her family – her background – her very _history, _Draco."

Again, from the corner of his eye, Draco noticed Jade stiffen at Narcissa's last sentence, but before he could ask her what was wrong, King Lucius finally let out a weary sigh and spoke.

"Narcissa, I understand all of your concerns. But frankly, this is not just about finding a perfect match for Draco." He turned to Draco, giving him a pointed look. "My son, I just want you to know all of your available options before you finally settle down and choose the woman you wish to be your Queen. It is a very important decision in a man's – much more a _Prince's _– life after all. The woman he is to marry should satisfy him in more than just beauty and crafts."

With that, Lucius glanced at his wife, giving her a teasing smile. "It was the same thing my own father did for me. After all, if he hadn't allowed me to meet other women before setting up an arranged marriage back then, I never would have found _you, _my beautiful queen."

As he reached out to caress her cheek, Narcissa giggled and pushed him gently away.

"After all these years, you are _still _such a charmer, my King." She pointed out, smiling at him.

"And _you _are still such a tease, my Queen." Lucius smirked, kissing her hand.

"Oh please." Rolling his eyes at his parents' affectionate display, Draco was just about to call Jade's attention when he realized that she was already standing up from her seat. To his confusion, she knelt down on the carpet in front of him, her eyes trained intently on the floor.

"Your Highness." She addressed him with a formal bow of her head.

"Is everything alright?" He asked uncertainly.

Reluctantly, Jade lifted her gaze up again until she was staring right at him, allowing Draco to see the strangely conflicted expression on her face. When she noticed how Draco's frown began to crease even more, she cut him off before he could ask her what was wrong.

"May I be dismissed, Sire?" Jade knelt down on one knee again, avoiding his eyes.

Draco hesitated, unsure of whether or not Jade would resent him if he insisted she tell him what was bothering her. When he saw the guarded look in her eyes, however, he relented.

"You may." He told her softly, though not before giving her a warm look that, luckily enough, went unnoticed by his parents beside him. "However, you are to report to me in my chambers tonight before you retire. I wish to discuss a few things about tomorrow's journey."

"As your wish, Your Highness." After giving him one last incline of her head to show him she understood his request, Jade stood up and slowly made her way out of the throne room.

Prince Draco watched her walk away in silence, a forlorn look lingering on his face.

* * *

_Why am I not surprised? _Severus couldn't help the sigh of exasperation that escaped him as he stepped out of the palace later that night – only to find that the very person he was looking for had been out here all this whole time. As usual, he found Jade on the very edge of their training courtyard – just on top of the hill that overlooked the Slytherin Kingdom below.

The young General's stance was actually quite an impressive sight to behold.

Jade was holding a passive, strength-building pose that Severus had taught her back when she was still training under him. With perfect, unwavering balance, she was crouched atop an upright, metal beam that stood five feet above the ground. To Severus' further surprise, however, as he got closer to her, he came to notice that she was actually crouching down onto the tip of the beam with just a _single _foot, while her other foot was resting on nothing but air.

Seemingly unaware of his presence, Jade had her arms crossed over her chest and she was staring down at the kingdom below her with a frown of deep concentration on her face.

With a knowing smirk, Severus approached her from behind and cleared his throat.

"I figured I'd find you here." He spoke quietly, breaking the heavy silence and drawing her attention towards him.

Without losing her balance, Jade glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Severus." She didn't adjust her position, nor did the expression on her face give anything away as she merely nodded at him before turning back to stare off into empty space. "I apologize if you had to look for me. I just felt the need to be alone for awhile." She told him.

"So I've noticed." Severus answered easily, and he walked over to stand beside her. He followed her gaze, staring out at the small villages that circled the area of land below the palace. When Jade didn't say anything in response, he shot a glance at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Is there something bothering you, young lady?" He couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed her averse reaction to the nickname. It's been more than ten years now, but Jade was still so bothered whenever he addressed her as 'young lady'. Of course, he liked to take advantage of the discomfort it brought her and he addressed her as such whenever he could.

"Nothing of particular importance, Sir." Jade hesitated, her eyes flicking away from his. She lowered her gaze and spoke to him in a calm voice.

"I just have a lot of things on my mind."

"I see."

Severus fell silent again, and he took that moment to study the young, black-haired girl. For as long as he could remember, he had never understood Jade's personality, mostly because she never let any of her emotions or thoughts show on her face. At one point, Severus had even suspected Jade to be _autistic, _at least in the sense that she never wanted to talk to anybody else except Draco. It wasn't until she turned seven that she finally began speaking to everyone else.

It was quite a challenge for Severus at first, since it had been _him, _after all, that Prince Draco had assigned to take Jade in after they had found her in that village so many years ago.

She was _five-years-old _at the time, barely with a mind of her own, but to Severus' surprise, Prince Draco had been unusually patient with her. It was even Draco who first taught Jade how to write her name and – later on, taught her to read. She read hundreds of books from the palace's library after that, absorbing one after another as though her mind was a _sponge._

In terms of intellect, Jade was _exceptional, _that much was obvious. But it was her speed and the pure _grace_ she exuded whenever she was on the battlefield that truly drew people's attention to her. Even Blaise Zabini – who was widely considered to be one of the best veteran soldiers in the entire Slytherin Army – would be unable to defeat Jade in a one-on-one combat.

For the longest time, Jade refused to talk to any of her fellow soldiers. It wasn't until she turned fifteen that she finally began to speak to them, but she never really made any friends.

Two years ago, there was actually a soldier who once made the mistake of approaching Jade. She was sixteen-years-old then, and the young man, one of their newer recruits, had tried to _kiss _her while they were training together inside the castle. Without warning, Jade lashed at him, stabbing his arm and nearly severing the limb off altogether had Severus not intervened.

_It's no wonder the other soldiers are always avoiding her. _Severus grimaced at the memory, shaking his head. Even the Queen, who often told Severus about how strange she found Jade to be, was _wary _of her and she despised Jade's close relationship with the Prince.

King Lucius, on the other hand, had no qualms about Jade's strange attachment to his son. He even found it amusing how nearly all the noble families who had visited them over the years had grown terrified of the young, scarf-wearing, green-eyed girl who often tailed after Prince Draco wherever he went, scowling and scaring off any strangers who approached him.

Surprisingly enough, Severus saw that Prince Draco only seemed to find Jade's overprotectiveness of him _endearing. _Not once did the Prince ever tell her off for her behavior.

_I don't think I'll ever understand their strange relationship. _Severus mused to himself with another sigh before he finally shook himself out of his thoughts, bringing his attention back to the Jade's brooding form in front of him. By then, he noticed that she had stepped down from the metal beam and she sat crossed-legged on the ground, looking lost in her own thoughts.

Slowly, he walked over to where she was and sat down beside her, though he was careful not to look at her as he cast his gaze out and stared at the scene of villages below them.

"What's on your mind?" When a few minutes passed and Jade still didn't seem to want to answer him, Severus let out an exasperated sigh "Well, I do hope that whatever's bothering you is not because of that scene you witnessed in there awhile ago between Prince Draco and Lady Astoria." He remarked wryly. "If I remember correctly, I seem to recall you telling me just a few nights ago that you harbored no romantic attachments for the Prince." He reminded her.

"It's not that." Jade answered softly.

"Then what troubles you?" He asked again.

Her expression shuttered and she drew her gaze away from his.

"It's nothing, Sir—"

"_Tell me._" Severus ordered impatiently, giving the younger soldier a pointed glare.

"It is obviously important enough that it detracts you from your duties. Tell me what's on your mind."

"It is just…" Jade hesitated, her features creasing into a frown. Eventually, she sighed and lifted her eyes so she could meet Severus' gaze. "…when the Queen started talking about Lady Astoria's lineage and history back there, I could not help but think about my _own_." She spoke softly, and when his eyebrows furrowed at her words, she lowered her gaze to the floor.

"I know _nothing _about who I am, Severus. I do not have any living memory of my real family, nor do I even know where I come from." She paused, her hands playing idly with the holsters strapped to her thighs. "I'm just…_frustrated. _I wish that I knew more about my past."

Again, Severus fell silent, and he thought back to the day that he and Draco had first taken Jade in thirteen years ago.

They had found that the young girl had a severe case of amnesia. Draco had employed the help of his family's doctor, asking him to check up on Jade and determine the cause of her amnesia. He also wanted to know if there was a way to cure her.

Unfortunately, other that explaining to them that Jade's amnesia must have been caused by a very traumatic experience on her part, the Doctor did not know how to reverse it.

"When we found you thirteen years ago—" Severus began uncertainly, pausing when he noticed that Jade had finally looked up and was now staring intently at him. "—you didn't remember anything. In fact, you barely even _talked _to us." He told her, studying her reaction.

Jade remained silent but nodded slowly, urging him to continue.

Reluctantly, Severus went on. "I'm sorry if I am unable to tell you anything about your past, Jade, as I myself know nothing about where you're from. But I _do _suspect that you may have been from Gryffindor, because the traders who had you found you just over the border—"

Jade's eyes widened in surprise at his words, and she cut him off.

"I'm from Gryffindor?" She asked softly, staring at him.

"I cannot confirm that, Jade." Severus answered her honestly, shaking his head. "All I can tell you is that those slave traders claimed to have found you somewhere in the dark forest between the Slytherin and Gryffindor Kingdoms, but I know not for sure if that is truly the case."

"I understand." She nodded again, taking in his words. "I do not know much about the other Kingdoms. Will you tell me more about Gryffindor, Severus? Is it like our own Kingdom?"

"Hardly." Wincing, Severus sneered and shook his head at her words. "The Kingdom of Gryffindor is…not exactly in the best of states right now, politically speaking, I mean." He told her. When Jade gave him a confused look, he explained further. "From my few visits there with King Lucius, I noticed that many of the towns and villagers there are still rebelling against the rule of the new King, King Peter. His family is not directly descended from magic you see, unlike the families of the other Kingdoms. Because of that, many of the villagers are still opposed to his rule. They are also unhappy with the way he has been running the economy, leaving little for the commonfolk. There are constant uprisings and attacks that are being staged against him and the Royal Family almost every week. The Kingdom often collapses into anarchy when that happens."

"I see." Jade's expression gave nothing away as she listened intently to Severus' words. "Why did King Peter assume the throne? What has happened to the first Royal Family then?"

"They were murdered by the Dark Lord." Severus' expression suddenly grew dim at that and he lowered his voice as he looked away, staring at the ground by his feet. "I'm sure you've read about him before in some of our history books. Rumors say that after he murdered King James and his family, the Dark Lord just _vanished. _He hasn't been seen for more than a decade."

"The Dark Lord." Jade whispered, nodding slowly. "All accounts I've read about him say that he was the first man to have ever sold his own soul to the devil for the gift of dark magic."

Severus nodded grimly. "After the Dark Lord's disappearance, Peter Pettigrew – one of King James' Generals, assumed the throne. I'd rather not say anything about him but…Based on the few times I've met with him, I can't say he's doing a good job ruling a Kingdom." He sneered.

Jade wisely chose to remain silent at that.

"It gets worse." Severus told her, giving her a wry smirk. "There have been rumors going around that King Peter is actually friendly with the Death Eaters, and that's the real reason there are still so many of them in Gryffindor despite the attempts of the villagers to drive them out."

Again, Jade nodded and looked down, studying her hands. After a few seconds, she looked up and stared at him, and Severus couldn't help but notice the realization on her face.

"General Severus, Sir." Jade paused and she waited until she had Severus' full attention before she continued. "I would like to request your permission that, during our brief stay in the Gryffindor Kingdom, I may be allowed to go off on my own to find out more about my past."

"I would say yes, but I am no longer your Commanding Officer, Jade." Severus reminded her, giving the young General a pointed look. "I'm afraid I cannot give you permission for that."

Without waiting for her to respond, he gave her one last smirk, before he stood up slowly, walking back towards the palace. When he felt Jade's glare lingering on the back of his neck, he chuckled and glanced at her over his shoulder just as he reached the palace entrance.

"You should go and ask Prince Draco."

* * *

As Jade entered the Prince's room later that evening, she was greeted with the sight of Prince Draco, dressed in only a pair of black pants, lying comfortably against the lush pillows of his bed. He was reading intently from a thick book in his hands. When he noticed Jade enter, he didn't bother looking up and simply beckoned her over to him with a lazy wave of his free hand.

"Come in, my love." Without lifting his eyes from his book, he shifted slightly to the side of his bed and patted the space on the covers beside him.

"Come over here and sit beside me."

"Yes, Your Highness." Jade inclined her head and did as she was told, obediently shutting the doors behind her before she made her way over to his king-sized, four-poster bed. When Jade hesitated, seeing his distracted expression, Prince Draco patted the covers again.

"What is with this awkwardness again, Jade?" Sighing in exasperation, Prince Draco finally lifted his eyes from the pages of his book and glared at her. "I want you to sit beside me."

"Yes, My Prince." Jade lowered her gaze, mostly to keep herself from staring too long at his bare chest, and fought the urge to blush as she settled on top of the covers beside him. "I apologize for taking too long. I spent a few hours in the training courtyard outside the castle."

"So I've heard." Prince Draco nodded and lifted his eyes from his book again, turning to give her a small smile. When Jade looked confused at his answer, he chuckled and added. "I spoke with Blaise just before you came in, and he mentioned that he saw you in the training grounds. I hardly think you need any training, love. You're an _exceptional _fighter." He told her.

"Thank you, My Prince." Jade blushed and lowered her gaze again, shifting awkwardly against the blankets and fiddling with her hands on her lap. When the Prince fell silent again and she noticed that he had resumed his attention to his book, she reluctantly scooted closer until she was sidled up to him, leaning over his shoulder to peer curiously into the book's thick pages.

"What are you reading?" She asked.

Sensing her piqued interest, Prince Draco chuckled at her reaction. He surprised her completely when he reached his arm out, wrapping it snugly around her waist and using the gesture to pull her closer in front of him so that she now sat between his legs, her back against his chest. When he rested his chin atop her shoulder as he read, Jade stammered in protest.

"Y—Your Highness—?"

"I'm trying to refresh my knowledge of the other Royal Families." Prince Draco ignored her reaction to their intimate position and gave her a wry look. "You know, just to make sure that I don't make a complete fool of myself and end up calling a Princess by the wrong name."

"You could _never _make a fool out of yourself, even if you tried." Jade declared, and Prince Draco couldn't help but give her a smile for her loyalty. "I mean it, My Prince." She added.

"And I've no doubt you do, my love." He assured her, rewarding her with a kiss on her cheek before he rested his chin on her shoulder again and turned another page of his book. "But unfortunately, I'd be a fool to not consider the fact that you happen to be _very _biased when it comes to me, and so my chances of making a fool out of myself are still pretty high." He mused.

Jade fell silent at that and, unsure of what else she could do while she was trapped in his arms, she settled for reading the names written in the book the Prince held in front of them. When he saw that she was reading with him, he pointed to the names on the top of the page.

"Princess Cho and Princess Marietta of the Ravenclaw Kingdom." Draco murmured idly, shaking his head to himself. "I never really got along with those two, but I suppose I have no choice. Father is adamant that I meet with them both anyway." He muttered under his breath.

Lowering her gaze from the family tree of the Ravenclaw Royal Family that was splashed out on the page in front of her, Jade leaned back against him and fiddled with her hands. "Princess Cho is quite pleasant, My Prince. She is much more tolerable than Princess Marietta."

"Really? Because I can't stand them _both._" Prince Draco scoffed, rolling his eyes and giving Jade a pointed smirk. "From what I hear, Princess Cho is not interested in meeting up with _me _either; she is completely besotted with that pretty-boy Prince from Hufflepuff." He snorted.

"Would you mean Prince Cedric, Sire?" Jade asked curiously, looking surprised.

"Yes, he would be the one." Prince Draco's expression seemed to darken slightly with irritation at her words and he glanced up at her, meeting her eyes. "Have you met him before?"

"Not formally, My Prince. I have seen him quite a few times during the Royal Parties that the Queen has thrown over the last few years, but I do not remember his face." Jade told him.

"Good." He muttered, his expression unreadable as he turned another page of his book. Confused by his sudden change of mood, Jade frowned at him and studied his reaction carefully.

When she lifted her eyes and stared at the book again, it was the family tree of the Hufflepuff Royal Family that was now splashed out along the pages. She recognized the two Prince's names on the page – Prince Cedric and Prince Ernie – and just beside them was their younger sister, Princess Hannah. Slowly, Jade lifted her gaze and waited for Draco's reaction.

"Disgusting." He was scowling and his lips were curled into a disdainful sneer as he stared at Princess Hannah's name. "That clumsy, bumbling idiot of a Princess is the _last _woman I would choose to be my Queen. Stupid girl can't even look at me without _blushing!_" He drawled.

"You are being unfair, Draco." Jade chastised him softly, though her voice carried none of its usual conviction as she spoke to him. "Hannah is quite lovely, and she's incredibly nice—"

"The last time we danced together, she couldn't even look me in the eye. And she _still _kept stepping on my feet. I do not like her, Jade." Prince Draco retorted snidely, rolling his eyes. "And what are you talking about? She is not lovely at all, her hair is just like a spider's web—"

"You are being cruel and nasty again, My Prince." Jade spoke softly, reaching down and taking one of his hands in hers, intertwining their fingers together and giving them a squeeze.

"I know, I _know. _I just…." Prince Draco fought another urge to roll his eyes as he gazed at the Hufflepuff Family Tree again.

Sighing, he relented and turned another page of his book.

The next Royal Family tree that greeted him, however, was one that made Prince Draco pause for a few seconds. Eventually, the confusion cleared from his face and he shook his head.

"Oh. I made a mistake; I must have gotten an outdated version of this book. This one still displays the Family Tree of the first Royal Family of Gryffindor." As he glanced down at the list of names before him, Jade noticed that the first Royal Family of Gryffindor had listed only _one _successor to the throne at the time – Princess Harriet, daughter of James and Lily Potter.

"King James only had one daughter." Jade whispered to herself as she stared at the names in front of her, and she was confused when she felt a strange, tightening inside her chest.

Prince Draco's expression became grim as he reached out and traced the box that held the deceased Gryffindor Princess' name. "I never actually got the chance to meet Harriet. She was murdered long before King James introduced her to the other Royal Families." He mused.

"I see." Jade whispered again, unable to tear her gaze away from the Princess' name.

"Tis a pity though, really." The Prince's snide voice drew Jade's attention again, breaking her out of her thoughts. She looked up and turned her head to the side to glance at him. "Although I'd never met her, I'm almost certain that Princess Harriet would have been a _lot _better than that annoying git that they call the Gryffindor Princess _now._" Sighing, Prince Draco finally leaned back against the pillows behind him and closed the book he held with a loud snap.

At his words, Jade couldn't help sneering in agreement and shaking her head.

"If you are referring to Princess Pristina, Your Highness, then I'm afraid I have to agree with you. I implore you not to choose her as your Queen." Jade admitted, looking up at his face.

"Oh don't worry, love. I won't." Prince Draco chuckled as he set the book down onto the table beside his bed and settled back against his pillows, pulling Jade even closer against him. "I would much rather marry a _toad _than to ever allow myself anywhere near that sniveling witch."

"I would much rather you refer to her as a sniveling 'cow', Your Highness."

At the blank, deadpan humor in Jade's voice, Prince Draco let out a surprised, genuine laugh and he leaned in again, hugging her and giving her another affectionate kiss on the cheek.

"Don't you ever leave my side, Jade." He cajoled her playfully, still laughing.

Upon hearing the tenderness in the Prince's words, however, the warm smile on Jade's face suddenly faltered. She tensed as she drew her gaze back down, staring at their intertwined hands on top of the blankets. When Prince Draco sensed the sudden shift in Jade's mood, he frowned and reached out, gripping her chin and tilting her head up so he could see her face.

"Is something wrong, my love?" He waited until Jade met his eyes with hers before he spoke again. "There is something that bothers you, Jade. Tell me what it is." He ordered firmly.

"There is." Jade pulled her chin away from his grasp and bowed her head again, avoiding his gaze. "I would like to formally ask your permission, Your Highness. When we arrive in Gryffindor, I would like to request for a short leave of absence from my duties so that I may be able to roam the Kingdom on my own." She paused and finally lifted her head to stare at him.

To Jade's dismay, the worried look on Prince Draco's face suddenly grew sad at her words and the expression marring his handsome features became crestfallen as he watched her.

"This is about all those things my mother said, isn't it?" He spoke quietly, and when Jade stiffened and blinked at him, he sighed in defeat. "Do you wish to leave me, Jade?" He asked.

"No!" Jade's eyes grew uncharacteristically wide at Prince Draco's words and she shook her head frantically at him, reaching down to clasp his hand firmly in both of hers. "_Never_, My Prince! I would never wish to leave you. You know better than anyone that nothing else gives me as much fulfillment as being close to you – always by your side." She assured him firmly.

"Then why do you wish to go off on your own?" He asked again, looking concerned.

"…_Because, _Your Highness…I just—" Jade cut herself off in the middle of her explanation and sighed, releasing his hand so she could reach up to massage her temples in exhaustion. "—I just want to know more about my true identity. I want to know more about who I am or where I really came from. I want to find out if I have any family left alive." She noticed the confusion that clouded the Prince's eyes and so she added further. "Severus has told me that you found me near the borders of Gryffindor. I figured that would be a good starting point for my search."

"I understand." Prince Draco nodded slowly, though the crestfallen look never left his face.

He lowered his solemn gaze and looked away, staring emptily at the walls across his room.

When he didn't say anything for a long time, Jade sighed and hugged her arms to herself, shifting awkwardly against him. Finally, after a long moment, Prince Draco spoke again.

"Given time…After I marry and formally assume the throne, will you–" The Prince paused and turned his head so that he was staring right at her, meeting Jade's wide green eyes.

"–will you not wish to leave me _then?_" He asked softly.

When she saw the strangely forlorn expression on his face, Jade opened her mouth to answer him, but she couldn't find the voice to speak. Prince Draco noticed her hesitation instantly and Jade saw the way his eyes clouded over before he hastily averted his gaze again.

"I'll understand, you know." He added softly, swallowing the lump in his throat as he shifted his attention so that he was staring numbly at the empty space in front of him. "Of course you'll want to have your own family one day. Fall in love, get married…Perhaps even raise children of your own when the time comes." Prince Draco gave her a smile that did not seem to reach his eyes. "I am not as selfish so as to ask you to remain by my side forever, Jade."

"It is not that, My Prince. I would never wish to leave your side. It is just that–" Jade lowered her eyes and turned her head so that he couldn't see her face. "–until I find out more about who I really am, I fear that I will never be at peace with myself." She leaned back against his chest and turned her head so she could look at him, her cheek resting against his shoulder.

"I am so sorry to have asked this from you, My Prince." She whispered.

"No, _I'm _sorry, love. Of course you may have my permission." He shushed her and gave her another sad smile before he lifted his hand, caressing her cheek. "I'll admit that sometimes, I can't help but want to be selfish when it comes to you." He reached down and took her hand again; bringing it up to his lips and giving the back of her palm a chaste kiss. "And sometimes, I often wonder to myself that if…If things were different and if I _wasn't _the Prince, then maybe…"

When he let his voice trail off and he fell silent, Jade looked up, staring expectantly at him. Prince Draco's features were creased into a slight frown and he looked angry with himself.

"Maybe…?" She prodded, unsure of what he meant to say.

The Prince tensed at her words – almost as though she had jolted him from his thoughts – and he shook his head hastily before sighing and rewarding her with another vacant smile.

"It's a silly thought." He blinked the dazed look away from his face and tried to ease her confusion by forcing out a laugh. "Anyway, it's getting quite late. And we have a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow, love. Perhaps we should turn in for the night and get some rest?"

Nodding, Jade took that as her cue to leave and began untangling herself from his arms. When he noticed that she was beginning to climb out of his bed, however, the Prince frowned. He reached out, grasping her tightly by her arm and pulling her back onto the bed beside him.

"Sire?" She stared up at him with wide, shocked eyes.

"Stay here with me tonight." Prince Draco ignored her reaction and adjusted their position again so that they were both lying down on the bed, with Jade curled up against him.

"But Sire." Jade protested again, shifting uncomfortably against him when he reached for the covers and pulled them over both their forms. "The guards outside in the halls…They will talk. And the Queen will be angry with you again if she finds out." She told him, looking unsure.

"Let them talk. And let my Mother be angry." Prince Draco retorted, shaking off her concern with an impatient wave of his hand. "You have fallen asleep many times before in my room when you were younger anyway. Why should this time be any different?" He pointed out.

For the life of her, Jade couldn't think of any counter-argument to the Prince's statement and so she bowed her head, staring quietly at the patterns of his silk blankets so as to avoid his eyes. He smirked at her reaction before he peeled the covers back again, urging her with a nod to scoot closer beside him. Reluctantly, she obliged but when he wrapped an arm around her waist to draw her closer, he grimaced and pulled away, giving her a pointed look. It took Jade a few seconds before she realized what the cause of his glare was. Once she did, she had the temerity to look sheepish. Blushing with embarrassment, she reached down, pulling her twin sabres out from where they were still sheathed inside the holsters strapped to her thighs.

"Sorry." She mumbled awkwardly, laying them out onto the table beside his bed.

From the corner of her eye, she thought she caught a glimpse of the way Prince Draco's lips twitched at her apology but he didn't say anything. Afterwards, as she hesitantly snuggled back against him, he wrapped an arm around her waist and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

**Notes: **Aww…I'm actually not used to writing Draco to be so nice and affectionate in this story, since we all know he's usually a snotty, mean jerk but I assure you that he's not meant to be OOC. He just really has a soft spot when it comes to Jade, but I promise that you'll see his usual self later on when he interacts with the other characters. :D

To be honest, I already have a plot mapped out for this, but as of now, this story is still so open-ended that a lot can still happen in the next few chapters. Having said that, I welcome any suggestions or requests that you guys think might make the story even more interesting. :D

The next chapter will have Draco and Jade travelling to Ravenclaw, so I'm really excited to write that out. Until then, please don't forget to send me your thoughts! See you next update! XD


End file.
